Skyjacker

An innovative augmented reality game that let players track and interact with real aircraft in real-time.

Founding Story

Skyjacker was born at the height of the AR boom inspired by Pokémon GO in 2018. I co-founded a small game studio with one other creative — the original concept was his, but I took on the challenge of bringing it to life as a mobile experience.

Our goal: to mix real-world flight data, a compelling visual style, and a strategic game loop that turned the sky into a live playground. The result was a unique experience where players could "skyjack" real aircraft flying overhead, earn points, and compete with others for control of the skies.

Narrative & Visuals

The story and branding were inspired by DB Cooper — the infamous, unidentified plane hijacker of the 1970s. We leaned into that mystery and retro aviation aesthetic to give the app a gritty, rebellious vibe.

The UI had a radar-like feel. Planes felt collectible, valuable, and even a little dangerous to engage with — and that helped give each interaction weight.

Tech & Development

As the sole engineer, I built the entire stack:

• Cordova to target both iOS and Android from a single codebase
• Real-time flight data ingestion via WebSockets and public flight APIs
• Custom AR overlays to track planes in real space
• Backend services to manage player progress, battles, and in-app purchases

This was a full-stack, real-time mobile game experience — blending location services, live data streams, augmented visuals, and competitive mechanics.

Community & Beta Testing

We started with a Slack-based beta group, testing the core gameplay loop and gathering feedback on AR tracking, game mechanics, and UX.

We also tapped into the plane spotter and flight tracking communities — groups already obsessed with live aircraft data. They loved the idea of turning their hobby into a game and became some of our earliest supporters.

Gameplay and Monetisation

Each plane had a rarity rating based on real-world characteristics — flight route, aircraft type, altitude, etc. Rarer planes were more valuable and gave more points when successfully skyjacked.

Players could also battle other skyjackers to take control of planes. PvP added a layer of strategy and replayability — players competed for high-value targets on a live global leaderboard.

We monetised via in-app purchases for in game-currency that would expand your capabilities in the game — and even had our own "whale" who regularly topped the charts.

The Shutdown

Skyjacker had a dedicated player base that traded plane sightings, competed for control, and shared gameplay tips, but this began to tail off. By early 2020, as flights around the world ground to a halt due to COVID-19, our core mechanic — live aircraft — stopped functioning.

Rather than pivoting to fictional data, we chose to shut the game down with integrity.

Outcome

Skyjacker was an ambitious experiment in blending real-time data, AR, and competitive gameplay. It was a technical and creative challenge that gave me deep experience in:

• Mobile game loops
• Augmented reality integration
• Real-time data sync
• Cross-platform deployment
• Community-led product iteration

And most importantly, it showed me how to turn the real world into a competitive, immersive experience — and that even niche ideas can attract deeply engaged players.