If you’ve never heard of Phil Tippett you’ll have more than likely seen his work. Tippett is a 2-time Academy Award winning Visual Effects Supervisor and Director who’s worked on the original Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park, Robocop and The Force Awakens to name a few. He also created the “Holo Chess” scene from Star Wars, and now, in collaboration with HappyGiant has created an augmented reality (AR)/ virtual reality (VR) videogame akin to that original idea called HoloGrid: Monster Battle.
Described on the projects website as: “a “Hybrid” Board Game, Collectible Card Game (CCG), and Digital Game in one,” HoloGrid: Monster Battle is being built for AR and VR platforms, but will also release for mobile devices and PCs.
“For years I’ve been making monsters for Directors to play with, and now for the first time, I’m making monsters for YOU to play with,” said Tippett. “We’re excited about the new fields of Augmented and Virtual Reality, and to be working with our friends at HappyGiant to create HoloGrid: Monster Battle.”
“We’re incredibly excited and interested in new platforms like Magic Leap, HoloLens, CastAR, Meta and others, as well as current AR mobile tech such as Vuforia,” said Mike Levine, President of HappyGiant. “We believe in the future of AR Gaming, and to be working with Phil Tippett and his studio on this project is a dream come true. The tech has finally caught up to the point where this game can be made.”
HoloGrid: Monster Battle is similar to card-based videogames like Magic: The Gathering or Hearthstone. The difference is that Tippett’s project will use physical playing cards to trigger AR creatures and a gameboard, enabling gamers to play head-to-head locally or remotely, and offline as well.
It’s still early days for HoloGrid: Monster Battle, no release schedule has yet been revealed as the team is currently looking a funding options ranging from publishing deals to crowd-funding.
But as further details come to light VRFocus will be there to bring you the latest announcements.
