Git Your Goat

Got Goats?

Git Your Goat is a navigation learning game - it requires being outdoors and involves exercise. The game is best played in an open area such as a park, or along an easy trail. It involves placing up to 50 "virtual" goats for oneself, or for another to find, in a hazard-free location where they can be safely retrieved.

The app cannot determine if a goat has been placed in a hazardous location, or if an unsafe route is chosen to reach a goat. Parents must supervise young children using the app to ensure their safety.

BATTERY NOTICE: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

OBJECTIVE
The goats have escaped and need to be rounded up! Your trusty goat dog will point you in the right map direction to locate them. Use the map and navigation arrow to help you locate each goat until they have all been found. Then view your results, including the name of each goat you got.

PRACTICAL USES
Placing goats along a trail can help keep young hikers engaged and moving ahead. Or use the app to provide audible reminders at particular waypoints. Use it to teach or practice basic map-reading skills while taking part in a fun goat hunt!

DETAILS
The apps Goat Guide arrow will point the way to the closest goat, one after another. The contestant can find them in the suggested order, or locate them by cutest name, or any order they choose. As each goat is found it gives a guttural goat greeting and retreats obediently to its pen. When the last goat is found a triumphant fanfare will play, and the participants statistics will be displayed: number of goats found, their names, and elapsed time.

The goats are virtual: meaning that you see their locations on the map, but not in real life. Actual objects (flags, stuffed animals, prizes, etc.) could be placed at the physical locations, if the course is laid out ahead of time.

Git Your Goat helps teach basic map-reading and orientation skills: helping participants to make the connection between a map and the world around. Competition is not the point: there need not be winners or losers. But time and distance can be recorded if you like, facilitating competitive comparisons however you choose to define the competition. Results data, such as distance traveled, can help parents keep track of just how much exercise a young goat roper gets on an outing to the park or trail.

Git Your Goat uses GPS technology to provide accurate position information. It requires using an iPhone or iPad device containing a GPS receiver. It is not suitable for indoor use, but it is usable by passengers (not the driver!) in a vehicle to observe their progress on the map and receive audible goat greetings as they traverse pre-determined goat locations: another tool in the toolbox for keeping young passengers entertained.

Avoid placing goats near water or other hazards that could pose a risk to the participant or to the mobile device. Constantly supervise children using this app. A suitable protective case is strongly recommended, particularly if a youngster will be carrying the mobile device.