Mythical invasion returns to the Botanic Gardens

After a successful trial of ‘Magical Park’ a digital playground mobile phone or tablet app, in three Orange locations, Orange City Council decided to make Magical Park a feature at the gardens for one year.

Orange City Council’s Deputy Mayor Jason Hamling said the game was similar to the recently popular Pokemon Go, but there were a few significant differences.

“Unlike other augmented reality based games, in Magical Park kids have to physically chase after, and run away from, the creatures they can see through the screen of their mobile device,” he said.

“It’s fantastic because it gets kids out of the house, they’re active, they’re using open grassed areas that don’t have a lot of foot traffic and they’re having a great time.

” Magical Park is a type of geofenced game, which means it can only be played in selected parks and has an invisible boundary, which prevents kids from running on to the road."

The ‘Meadow’ at the Botanic Gardens was the most used of the three trial sites selected by council earlier this year and the continuation of the game at the gardens is designed to give families another reason to enjoy the space.

“There’s the adventure playground near the Botanic Gardens and it caters for young children but this digital playground is designed to give older kids something fun and active to do,” Cr Hamling said.

“The app is also free for users, it’s free from any advertising and as a parent I think that’s fantastic.

Families can download the ‘Magical Park’ app at home and then bring their smart phone or tablet device to any of the three parks to play.

The app is available on Android and Apple phones. For more information and videos on how to play head to this website.