Patent ID: 8376857

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of operation for a multi-player online computer game played by users on portable wireless game-playing devices, wherein each of the portable wireless game-playing devices is located at a respective corresponding physical geographic position, the method comprising: receiving, via a server, information that indicates the respective corresponding physical geographic position of each of the portable wireless game-playing devices; storing, via the server, the received information on a hardware medium; identifying, via the server, a group of users currently playing the same multi-player online computer game with each other on respective portable wireless game-playing devices within a predetermined distance from each other; then identifying, via the server, another portable wireless game-playing device outside of an area in which the group of users are currently playing the same multi-player online computer game within the predetermined distance from each other, the identifying being based on a distance between the physical geographic position of the other portable wireless game-playing device and the area in which the group of users are within the predetermined distance from each other; and if the other portable wireless game-playing device outside of the area is identified, using, via the server, the received information to bring the user of the other portable wireless game-playing device outside of the area within the area to play the same multi-player online computer game on the respective portable wireless game-playing device with the other users, wherein using the information to bring the user within the area includes providing information to the portable wireless game-playing device of the user that indicates how the user can come within the predetermined distance from the other users, and wherein the multi-player online computer game comprises pre-defined game scenarios and a scoring system.