Katamari Damacy series creator Keita Takahashi is working on a new augmented reality game that uses Google’s Tango technology to fill real-world spaces with video game characters and virtual interactive elements.
Woorld marks Takahashi’s latest effort as an indie creator, following up on his recent projects, which include Alphabet, Tenya Wanna Teens, and Wattam.
Takahashi demonstrates his new app in the video above. Woorld uses augmented reality technology to map the physical space of a room, from floor to ceiling. After setting up a play space, the app then fills the surrounding environment with bizarre creatures and interactive elements for players to discover over the course of each play session.
By positioning and manipulating augmented reality elements in specific ways, players can unlock new objects and characters for use in future sessions. In the game’s introductory video, Takahashi shows how players can make a sprout bloom by placing it under a rain cloud attached to the room’s ceiling. Nearby objects like tables and couches can also be incorporated into Woorld‘s augmented reality framework, further drawing players into the experience.
As you progress through Woorld‘s campaign, Takahashi notes that you’ll eventually unlock augmented reality pyramids, UFOs, toilets, and “other important items.” After completing a series of tasks, you’ll later unlock a sandbox mode that allows you to arrange and display all of your unlocked items at once. Takahashi teases further gameplay possibilities at the end of the trailer, showcasing scenarios involving laser guns and rooms that fill with water.
Though Takahashi is best known for creating Bandai Namco’s roll-’em-up action game Katamari Damacy and its sequel We Love Katamari, Woorld more closely resembles Takahashi’s 2009 project Noby Noby Boy.
Like Noby Noby Boy, Woorld is a free-form, playground-like experience that grows as players interact with virtual objects, and the in-game goals are largely defined by players themselves. Currently, there’s no word as to whether fans can expect to see characters from Katamari Damacy or Noby Noby Boy return for cameo appearances in Woorld.
The release date for Woorld is not yet known.
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