This manual aims to be as simple as possible and lead to the least possible mistakes. There are certainly more advanced options or shortcuts but we leave them out as we do not want to confuse new players. Explanations that only apply to some or only in case of problems are given in small text.
Before playing a specific game, you must first download the program ("cartridge") and install it on your device.
a. Wherigo.com
On www.wherigo.com all games are available. This site is made by Groundspeak along www.geocaching.com and every Wherigo cache has a corresponding page on wherigo.com where you can find and download its cartridge. Download by first logging in into www.wherigo.com with your geocaching.com login and password (nickname, login and password are always the same as on geocaching.com!). Most Wherigo cache listings point to the correct Wherigo page or in the Related Web Page link.
On Wherigo.com select the "Download" button and choose the right device from the list: either the correct Garmin device or Pocket PC Device for all smartphones. You now have a .gwc file in your download folder.
c. Install
Connect your device with your computer by USB and copy the .gwc file to the correct folder.
Play
A Wherigo cache is best compared to mix of a multi cache, a computer game and sometimes... a mystery. It is a location-activated computer game that can have different forms depending on the creator's creativity. We will explain some general concepts here.
1. Fundamentel concepts
Wherigo Players always show 4 lists after start of the cartridge:
Locations
Locations are the beating heart of a Wherigo. You can compare them to the waypoints of a multi, but instead of exact points, in a Wherigo they are formed by a zone. This zone is usually circular (but can theoretically be of any shape) and at best several metres in diameter. Usually there is 1 (or even several) zones visible that you can navigate to. The first purpose of a zone is to show you messages. Depending on what the creator has programmed, you get them already from a certain distance, when you are close, when entering, leaving the zone or... sometimes in all these cases one after the other! However, besides messages, other actions can also take place (such as questions to be answered, ...). When you are in a zone, you should also always keep an eye out for anything new that appears in "You see". When you leave the zone, those things also disappear again. New zones only become available as the game progresses, and usually only after you have either arrived in a previous zone or... Only after you have performed the correct actions on characters or items there or answered the questions correctly. Active zones can also be invisible. You will then not see them in Locations but... the corresponding actions (messages, questions, showing objects or characters) will be performed! So during the game, keeping a close eye on your screen (or "feeling" that you are entering a zone, visible or not) is important.
You See
When you enter a zone, new objects or characters may appear in "You see". As such, in practice (technically) there is no real difference between an object and a character. After selecting an object or character, you usually see a picture, a text with an explanation and 1 or more action buttons. Normally, the idea is to then select and activate 1 or more of those action buttons... and then the game continues! Depending on what the creator has programmed, the actions may cause items or characters to move from "You see" to your "Inventory" afterwards. After you leave the zone, the items and characters disappear from "You see". Unless you have put them in your "Inventory" or the creator has made sure they actually disappear when you leave the zone, those items are still present in the zone and you can see them again by re-entering the zone.
Inventory
The items and characters in your "inventory" are always visible, even outside zones (unlike those in "You see" which are only available in a zone). The actions on these are the same as in "You see". How and when the items and characters end up in your "inventory" depends on what the creator of the cartridge provided.
Tasks
Tasks are mainly there to help you better understand the story of the game and/or the actions you need to perform to progress. A task can be "pending" or "completed". Tasks can only show a picture and/or an explanatory text (unlike objects, characters and zones on which you can also perform actions). Tasks can be present from the start, added during the game or disappear. Again... everything depends on the creativity of the cartridge creator.
Whether there is anything to see in these sections can be seen by the number listed after each section.
2. Tips, warnings and best practices
The Wherigo platform (the players, the site www.wherigo.com, the programming tools for the creators) is still quite unstable at the moment and that is not going to change anytime soon. In addition, every game is a difficult piece of programming so even the creators themselves make mistakes (bugs) in their cartridges. All this means that you have to be able to take a bit of a beating when playing Wherigo. On the other hand, in practice this is not too bad and most common problems are easy to get around.
Save and restore a game
Because the combination of cartridges and players can be unstable, the game can crash. Because a state (state) is built up in the game, this can have dramatic consequences. The most dramatic is that you have to start all over again from the start with a new game. (Unlike a multi, with all the right answers, you cannot continue unless the game has also registered all your right answers and "knows" where you are in the game. To remedy this, you can save a game in action. Most players provide a special action for this (or sometimes the app has an "autosave" setting when you change apps or leave the app). Once a game is saved, the next time you start the same game, the player will ask you if you want to resume the previous game. Because saving the game explicitly is cumbersome and because most players don't think about it in the heat of the game, some cartridge makers provide auto-saves at critical places in the game. This in-game autosave is invisible and you can only count on it if the creator explicitly mentions it in the listing or mentions it during the course of the game!
Activate zones
Zones are one the most important game elements and "getting inside" mostly the main driver of the game. On entering you usually get a message, a question, new objects or characters appear, ... In contrast with classic WPs of a multi you most likely enter a zone by not moving once you are close (near).
Log
When you finish the Wherigo and it is also a geocache you will also find a box and the classic logbook at the final location.
1. geocaching.com
The first obvious thing to do is to log the corresponding cache listing on geocaching.com, where, as always, you reflect your experience in a found log and show your appreciation with or without a favorite point. Bear in mind that making a somewhat good Wherigo typically takes a lot of time....
2. wherigo.com
Since every Wherigo cache is also at least cross-listed on wherigo.com, you can additionally log your experience there as well. This is not mandatory but appreciated by the Wherigo creators. This logging consists of 2 parts:
Post a log entry
This is the equivalent of a classic log with a TypePlayed that corresponds to the "Found it" of geocaching.com and the Rate this cartridge that corresponds with Favorite points but on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.
Unlock
With this you can show that you have actually completed it and set the status to completed (the completions counter also increments). So this is the real and undeniable "Found it" log combined with hard evidence similar to an on-line check that you would have signed the log as well! Note, however, that this is not going to work for all cartridges because it depends on whether the creator provided this in their game! If he did, you have to use the completion code. The completion code is unique for every player and game. Make sure to only enter the first 15 characters in the unlock code fiels.
More questions? Stuck? Contact us and we will try to help you!