The extended usage of mobile digital devices has nowadays become commonplace. Location-based games make the most of the mobile technologies by being played solely on mobile devices. The ever-growing interest for this type of applications goes beyond the mere goal of player entertainment, even reaching to the advocacy of civilization, research and education. In this article, three of the most famous and modern authoring tools for location-based games, Taleblazer, ARIS and Unity with Mapbox, are studied in-depth. The objective is to produce a comparative analysis of the aforementioned tools. Game developers may refer to this analysis to opt for the appropriate tool based on their needs, goals and technical expertise. In order to better understand the tool functionality and thus construct a reliable comparison framework, three game prototypes have been implemented. The results have shown that all studied tools provide the mechanics to develop location-based interactive experiences. Nevertheless, significant differences exist in their functionality, in their coding requirements, and in the extent of their respective learning curves. In conclusion, TaleBlazer seems to favor educational role-based games while ARIS favors hybrid story-based games. Unity with Mapbox, in turn, favors the development of recreational action-based games.

如今，移动数字设备的广泛使用已变得司空见惯。基于位置的游戏通过仅在移动设备上玩而充分利用了移动技术。对这类应用程序的日益增长的兴趣超出了玩家娱乐的目标，甚至达到了倡导文明，研究和教育的目的。在本文中，对基于位置的游戏的三个最著名和最现代的创作工具Taleblazer，ARIS和Unity with Mapbox进行了深入研究。目的是对上述工具进行比较分析。游戏开发人员可以根据他们的需求，目标和技术专长，参考此分析来选择合适的工具。为了更好地了解工具的功能并由此构建可靠的比较框架，已经实现了三个游戏原型。结果表明，所有研究的工具都提供了开发基于位置的交互式体验的机制。但是，它们之间存在重大差异功能，编码要求以及相应学习曲线的范围。总之，TaleBlazer似乎偏爱基于教育角色的游戏，而ARIS偏爱基于混合故事的游戏。反过来，与Mapbox的Unity支持基于娱乐性动作游戏的开发。