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 for the Augmented Reality game at the center of 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.