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PIGÉON GO

A social, AI-powered bird-spotting game.
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Real, collectable pigeons. Augmented reality customisations. Totally coo.

(Illustrative example – not final artwork or gameplay.)

The game is in its early stages (as is this website).

We're more put together than a pigeon's nest, but still in the planning stages. We’re seeking early supporters, collaborators, and testers. Interested?

Game Demo

What is Pigéon GO?

Pigéon GO is a mobile augmented reality game where players can meet, recognise, and “collect” real-world pigeons.

 

It blends AI-powered bird recognition with whimsical play and social storytelling to build empathy for overlooked urban animals and, by extension, all animals.
 
The game encourages users to become more attuned to their environment and to see every animal as a sentient individual, deserving of curiosity, compassion, and care.

 

By activating a global community of hobby bird-spotters, Pigéon GO also generates valuable AI training data for future animal welfare, wildlife tech applications, and ethical insights for vegan organisations.

(Illustrative example – not final artwork or gameplay.)

Image by Stuart Bartlett

How it works

Using AI vision, the game identifies individual pigeons via markings, gait, and geolocation. Players can name and “personalise” birds they collect with AR overlays (like hats, glasses, or rucksacks) and log notes or sightings.

Repeat encounters with the same bird unlock personality traits and insights, helping build a familiar cast of characters from everyday wildlife.
 
Pigéon GO is also a social game. You can meet pigeons collected and customised by other players, follow their stories, and add your own observations to shared profiles—creating a living, playful community of urban birdlife spotters.

How you play

Pigéon GO is designed to be slow-paced, curiosity-driven, and emotionally connective, inviting players to return regularly not for conquest, but for companionship.
 

Core Gameplay Loop:
 

  • Spot & Track: Use your camera to detect pigeons nearby.

  • Name & Customise: Add a name and accessorise pigeons with AR hats, backpacks, etc.

  • Re-Sight: Find the same pigeon again to earn points and log behaviour.

  • Observe & Learn: Gain behaviour insights, unlock bird ecology facts, track favourites.

  • Share to Social Media: Reach potentially millions of users via #pigeon, #birdwatching

  • Earn & Spend Points: Progress through observation and contribution; unlock new customisations, AR scenes, and interactive moments.

  • Play & Participate: Take on themed style challenges, co-create flock stories, or trigger AR scenes with shared pigeons.


(Note: Game will fully integrate with users' existing social networks.)

Why pigeons?

Pigeons make the strongest test case for gamified AI recognition in an urban setting.

They have distinct markings, colours, sizes, and posture differences that set individuals apart. They also tend to stay within familiar “home zones,” making repeat sightings likely.

 

And this isn’t just theoretical – multiple studies have shown that AI can reliably recognise individual pigeons over time using their appearance, movement, and behaviour. Researchers have even developed tools to identify individual birds.

Why it matters

Image by Fox

For players

  • Increase awareness of pigeon individuality and sentience

  • Challenge stereotypes

  • Deepen empathy and de-anonymise pigeons through repeated, individualised interactions

  • Reinforce our capacity to care, regardless of species

  • Spark reflection on behaviour, food choices and their ethical implications

  • Support play, light social interaction, and the satisfaction of discovery, collection, and light-hearted progression

A close-up photo that showcases the pige

For AR/AI Developers: 

  • Apply real-time AI vision to a novel, mission-led use case grounded in empathy and ecology

  • Train ethical animal recognition models via a worldwide community gathering data at scale

  • Promote immersive tech as a tool for pro-social, non-commercial goals, driving ethical outcomes and civic insight

  • Gather anonymous data with ethical intent; explore ethical data partnerships with vegan organisations, researchers, or civic agencies

Image by sanjiv nayak

Practicalities

Monetisation & Analytics

  • Game purchase: Base game price for download (tbd)

  • In-Game Purchases: AR items for purchase or donation to support dev and animal orgs

  • Ethical Advertising: Opt-in ads from mission-compatible brands (used to support free access)

  • Ethical Data Partnerships: Share anonymised data with orgs, researchers, city planners, or AR developers


Potential Players
There’s ample evidence of a massive appetite for bird-centred content and experiences.

  • Birds, #Birdwatching

  • Pigeons, #Pigeon

    • 76k members in Reddit’s r/pigeon – making it in the top 2% of Reddit communities

    • 100,000+ fans follow pigeon influencers across Instagram and TikTok (The Guardian)

    • 6.9k posts to Instagram using #pigeon in the last 7 days (Best Hashtags)

    • 1.2M posts to Tiktok using #pigeon (all time) (TikTok)


 

Concerns & Safeguards
We recognise that wildlife interaction – especially when gamified – can risk harm. However, pigeons are already fed, filmed, and followed with no structure, context, or care. Pigéon GO reframes that behaviour through gameplay rooted in compassion. It also includes many safeguards, including geofenced safe zones for play, design choices that discourage chasing or crowding, community guidelines, observation caps, and more.

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Also worth noting: Every day, 200 million animals are killed for food, entertainment, or convenience. A game that creates compassion for one pigeon might be the first step in caring for many others.

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For even more game details, such as Gameplay Features, Monetisation & Analytics, Concerns & Safeguards, and Supporting Studies, please read our full game summary and addendum. 

Image by Didssph

Seeking...

  • Feedback on gameplay, features, and concept

  • Partnerships with AI researchers, AR developers, civic and wildlife orgs, and animal advocates

  • Funding to support development and outreach

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