Point of Interest

This is an Augmented Reality Game trope. A Point of Interest is a real-world location that has a special purpose or function within the game world. Points of Interest are usually already locations of note within the real world -- water towers, monuments, churches and so on -- although it is not unlikely for easily-noticeable landmarks of low real importance to be used as well. This is most likely to aid the player in finding the sites.

Exactly how close a player needs to be to interact with the Point of Interest varies from game to game. Some may require the player to be practically standing on the location; others may require simple proximity, such as standing within 50 to 75 feet of the location's "pin" on the game map.

Naturally, this provides a possible revenue stream for the organization publishing the game; it is not unimaginable that commercial enterprises would be willing to pay the publisher to be a Point of Interest in order to attract potential customers.

Real Life Examples

 * Pokémon Go has at least three:
 * Pokéstops
 * Gyms
 * Nests
 * Spawn points, if these are different from nests
 * Harry Potter: Wizards United has three varieties:
 * Inns, where players can dine and regain Spell Energy, as well as deploy Dark Detectors to attract high-risk Traces.
 * Greenhouses, where they can find random potions ingredients or grow their own
 * Fortresses, where they can face difficult challenges for high rewards.

Anime and Manga

 * Den-noh Coil, being set in both reality and virtual reality, has a few. Shrines of any size cannot be entered by Searchys, which gives youngsters who are up to no good a place to hide. Also, the VR space that has a fixed entry point in the setting's real world.

Live-Action TV

 * A large number are scattered around the Spanish city of Granada in the Korean series Memories of the Alhambra. By the end of the first episode you see a spawn point for a weapon and the encounter zone of what amounts to a Boss for the tutorial level.