Californian lemon tree growing now gamified

Lemonopoly is an online game that serves to locate, preserve and distribute the wealth of citrus fruit naturally found in the San Francisco area.

We’ve already seen public transport and library indexing both gamified, so it is perhaps no surprise to now see that same thinking applied to lemon trees. Aiming to encourage existing food growing in urban areas, Lemonopoly is an online game that also serves to locate, preserve and distribute the wealth of citrus fruit naturally found in California. Created by designer Chacha Sikes and programmer Anselm Hook during the Creative Currency hackathon in San Francisco recently, the game places local residents into three teams based on city – San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. The cities are already home to lemon trees located in homeowners’ gardens, urban farms and public spaces. Users score points for their team when they add a tree to the map, add a tree that produces edible fruit, share lemons from a tree they own, offer to teach others how to aid lemon distribution and team up with a grocery willing to sell local fruit. Those who don’t have access to lemon trees can still win points by offering their services in the form of fruit-picking or by turning the fruit into preserves and marmalades. The more users get involved with their local lemon growing projects, the more points they will earn throughout the two-month long game. There is no prize for the winner other than civic pride and the chance to get involved in local projects. Although the game doesn’t officially get started until July 4th, teams can prepare by listing lemon trees on the map in advance. Lemonopoly aims to bring communities together with a shared goal, and at the same time highlights the availability of a natural local resource as a sustainable way to feed the population. Is your neighborhood host to natural goods or resources that could be gamified in a similar way, drawing attention to the wealth of local produce on offer?