''Tringo'' is an online multiplayer game created by Australian developer Nathan Keir (aka Kermitt Quirk) in December 2004 that is available to play inside the
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
platform ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' owned by
Linden Lab
Linden Research, Inc., doing business as Linden Lab, is an American technology company that is best known as the creator of ''Second Life''.
The company's head office is in San Francisco, with additional offices in Boston, Seattle, Virginia an ...
. It is described as a cross between
Tetris
''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet Union, Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute o ...
and
Bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** ...
.
Rules
Tringo was played by a large group of players at once. Each player is given their own "card" with a 5×5 empty grid. The game provides a new shape every ten seconds, which the player must fit into their board. The object is to create solid square areas of 2×2, 2×3, and 3×3 squares. When that happens, the shape is cleared from the board, and the player earns points.
Gameplay
Tringo is normally played as a gambling game, using the
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general ...
of
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
, "Linden Dollars" (L$) Because of the need for a large number of players, most game units are not owned privately, but are installed in casino areas and hosted by players who take the role of casino staff. (The game unit is freely purchasable at the cost of L$15000- equivalent to roughly US$50 - but the buyer must also own game land to install it on, and be able to attract the required number of players.)
At the start of each game, the host will usually place an amount - around L$100 - in the pot, which is then won by the player who scores the highest number of points. Players are not charged to enter but they are encouraged to add donations to the pot. In the past, the casino gained money via the
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
"traffic" system whereby any location that attracted large numbers of people for significant periods of time was given an extra L$ award by Linden Lab. Linden Lab no longer gives payout awards for traffic.
Popularity
Some
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
players take the view that Tringo's popularity is entirely due to its ability to offer "free money" in this way. (Second Life does not feature monster hunting or any systematic way to earn L$; they must be bought in US$, received in the stipends, or earned through doing business.)
Similar games
Tringo is similar to
Jtris (a solo and multiplayer variation game),
Slingo
Slingo is an online single and multi-player game that combines elements of slots and bingo (the name is a portmanteau of the two games). The game was created by New Jersey real estate developer, Sal Falciglia Sr. in 1994, who also founded the comp ...
(a cross between slot machines and bingo with a similar multiplayer focus), and
Blood 21
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the ci ...
(an abstract blackjack which is also multiplayer).
Game Boy Advance
Tringo was unique as the first game developed with
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
to be licensed for non-Second Life uses.
Donnerwood Medialicensed the game and is focused on releasing it on other platforms. The first is on the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
published by
Crave Entertainment
Crave Entertainment was an American video game publisher founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi. Its headquarters was in Newport Beach, California. It was acquired by Handleman Company in 2005 in a deal valued up to $95,000,000 but was then sold to Fi ...
and developed by David A. Palmer Productions was released in late April, 2006, and there will be more platform releases in 2006.
[{{Cite web
, url=http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/qt/podcasts/cover_stories/covercast_04_20_06.mp3
, title=Virtual World, Real Money
, author=John Burn
, publisher=]Business Week Magazine
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
, date=May 1, 2006
, accessdate=2006-12-03
, format=MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Orig ...
Tringo for PC
In 2007 Australia
ASX listed companyTwo Way Ltd.
licensed Tringo globally for PC and for iTV in Asia fro
Donnerwood Media
and now distributes the PC version of the game via its games porta
Way2Play
The game is also available through other major games portals, and is promoted inside Second Life a
Way2Play Island
The PC license reverted to Donnerwood Media in late 2007, and the flash version of Tringo is now widely distributed.
See also
*
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
References
External links
Tringo Web- Support website for Tringo in Second Life.
Tringo Web Game- Play Tringo For Free.
Second Life
2006 video games
Game Boy Advance games
Video games developed in Australia