If you are a Nintendo fan and miss the Mario Party team player game, you will probably love AR Party. This is an augmented reality game, currently a project on Kickstarter, which aims to recreate the fun and adventures in Mario Party. It is created by a digital agency Ditached, consisting of an AR/VR developer, and UX designer and a 3D artist who want to bring the retro charm of console games to players’ living rooms. But they will not need any special device to play AR Party, only their iOS or Android phones.
As the duo – Sebastian Schuchmann (Seppi), developer and AR/VR specialist, and Robin Bittlinger, UX designer and 3D artist – describe their augmented reality game, AR Party will let anyone have fun: those who enjoy competing against their friends and those who love playing in collaboration with their friends.
The concept of the game, presented in various mini videos on the Kickstarter project page, involves two types of character. The Wallet Guy, who is loosely based on Mario with his goggles propped on top of his head, is “the creative mastermind” behind the game. He loves to eat Coins.
On the other hand, Sofa Guys (controlled by the players) are always on the lookout for Coins and various bits of junk, which they exchange for Collectors Trophies and Items.
The challenge for the developers was finding a way to match the action of the game and the CGI landscape with the average player’s home environment. Thus, the Sofa Guys always thrive in the fields called the Positive Fields, inspired by the couch crack, where they can collect coins.
The floor represents the Negative Fields, which Sofa Guys must avoid because they get stuck there and lose Coins. Other areas in the room will generate the VS Fields – places where the Sofa guys can compete one against the other.
The augmented reality game will allow friends to form teams and play one against the other. Collaboration is important in many mini games available in AR Party. For instance, in The Ground Is Lava mini game, one player arranges blocks, while the other moves the Sofa Guy from one block to the other, avoiding falling in lava.
On the initial release date, the developers plan to offer players a total of eight mini games, grouped in two categories: Free for All and Team. The Free for All games will unleash the competitive spirit in the players, who will strive to collect as many Coins as possible to redeem Trophies. At the end of the game, the winner is the Sofa Guy with the most coins.
The entire concept of the game has a retro look. The virtual worlds overlay and the characters are a creative bow to the ‘90s console games. The developers strove to make the Sofa Guys “cheerful and energetic, but not too personal.”
On the other hand, they invested a lot of time and thought into creating the Wallet Guy, which is slightly taller than the other characters in AR Party. Overall, the action and the characters aim to attract gamers of all ages, even those who never had the chance to play the original Nintendo games.
At the moment, AR Party is in its crowdfunding phase on Kickstarter. The project is open for backing until December 24. If Ditached manages to secure the amount of $30,292, the game will be released for Android and iOS in the summer of 2021.
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