“Ko-cha was created because teens don’t go out to parks and play unsupervised anymore.”
“As parents, we expect them to just do it like we did. But what exactly are they meant to do? There are no other teens out there and everything costs money they don’t have.
When the culture of free play goes the learning to negotiate fairness and tolerance of difficult relationships go with it. These are not replicable online, because the rules of the game are built in and players you don’t like can be muted or unfriended.
Ko-cha therefore is my best attempt at giving young people a reason to meet up and have free ways to have fun.
My guiding philosophy was to create an engaging game that didn’t feel like exercise.
I chose combat because, like it or not, there is no greater motivator to hide or run your ass off than another human hunting you. I know I won’t convince everyone on this. All I can say (as a pacifist) is that we are not going to compete against Fortnite and Call of Duty by offering tiddlywinks.
I chose an AR phone app because:
Apps can be download for free on the one thing carried by most teenagers.
Flying data poses no danger to bystanders.
Phones are so ubiquitous in public spaces their use is practically invisible to everyone around you.
It has been a long road that began in 2020 with me googling ‘how to make a phone app’. 6 years of expensive development and play testing later, Ko-cha is a comprehensive toolbox for engaging in combat tag action everywhere.
The full import of that achievement is only now starting to sink in.
Before this app, combat gaming was confined to paintball and laser tag arenas; having water fights in the garden and nerf battles around the house. The constraints have always been the guns and projectiles.
With Ko-cha there are no actual guns and projectiles. So…we just opened up the whole rest of the world for active tag gaming. Wherever you can get mobile data you are good to go.
We put this to the test in our trial games, playing games in Leicester Square, the South Bank, National Gallery, Waterloo and Liverpool Street stations, the V&A, Tate Britain, on the ferry to France and even on a flight to Berlin. In every game we flew under the radar. People around us didn’t know we were playing anything at all.
That means every park, public space, scrap of wasteland and wood is now open for free fun!
All we need to do now is to spread the word.”
Dave Stott
Dave works as an industrial climber on London’s premier landmarks, running Ko-cha games at the weekends. He has been creating outdoor games for young people for 33 years. First as an outdoor adventure guide in New Zealand and thereafter in London’s urban gaming community.
