Board/Minis gaming and VR

[Staggerwing]

Considering how close to fruition the coming VR revolution is with products such as the Oculus Rift, has anyone considered how to integrate VR with board games and minis? If the physical counters and minis are fitted with unique RF chips then they could be made to broadcast their position to a server of some kind and each player could observe the board in realtime when a continent away while enjoying some 'enhancements'. Even when in the same room the experience could be kind of like VASSAL on steroids. The tokens could be made to display values floating above their location that could be of interest to the players and also display additional info such as a track of a unit's previous locations or even it's movement, command, or spotting range. Turns could have instant replay and hidden units could actually be hidden until the opposing player spots them. If die rolls are digitized and fed into some kind of battle management software then the resulting step losses or other results could appear over the counter as well.

My prediction is that scifi-based minis games will be the first to tackle this.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Isn't there a werewolf game that already kind of incorporates some of this stuff via iPad "enhancements"? 

[LongBlade]

Isn't there a werewolf game that already kind of incorporates some of this stuff via iPad "enhancements"?

Hmmm. Haven't heard of that, but there is Ted Alspach's (sp?) game which probably would easily facilitate such a gimmick.

[weateallthepies]

Isn't there a werewolf game that already kind of incorporates some of this stuff via iPad "enhancements"?

There is the "One night ultimate werewolf" I think it's called. I played it with some friends, the ipad bit is just talking you through stuff and timing you though.

There are a few like this now, such as the X-Com boardgame, and the miniatures game Golem Arcana. Nothing that uses VR yet though I don't think.

[LongBlade]

There is the "One night ultimate werewolf" I think it's called. I played it with some friends, the ipad bit is just talking you through stuff and timing you though.

There are a few like this now, such as the X-Com boardgame, and the miniatures game Golem Arcana. Nothing that uses VR yet though I don't think.

Yes, Ultimate Werewolf I think is it.

As for X-Com et al, I ran into this problem about 20 years ago. I bought some kind of spooky boardgame which offered the thrilling(!) addition of a VCR!!!11!!1 tape that you played in parallel to the game. The tape made an intro then went black for a while. At a certain point (22 minutes in or something) a spooky guy would pop up startling everyone playing the game (or so it was hoped). This was repeated several times over the course of the game.

Of course the problem is immediately clear today: technology has moved on. I enjoyed the app for X-Com and the added dimension it offered. But I immediately recognized the problem - the game will be obsolete, if not wholly unplayable, in a couple of decades.

As a result I am quite hesitant to embrace new tech being infused into board/minis games. With PC games I get it - I know I'm buying a game that in five years will be largely obsolete (though Steam et al are being quite nice in keeping games running on modern OSs these days).

YMMV

[weateallthepies]

There is the "One night ultimate werewolf" I think it's called. I played it with some friends, the ipad bit is just talking you through stuff and timing you though.

There are a few like this now, such as the X-Com boardgame, and the miniatures game Golem Arcana. Nothing that uses VR yet though I don't think.

Yes, Ultimate Werewolf I think is it.

As for X-Com et al, I ran into this problem about 20 years ago. I bought some kind of spooky boardgame which offered the thrilling(!) addition of a VCR!!!11!!1 tape that you played in parallel to the game. The tape made an intro then went black for a while. At a certain point (22 minutes in or something) a spooky guy would pop up startling everyone playing the game (or so it was hoped). This was repeated several times over the course of the game.

Of course the problem is immediately clear today: technology has moved on. I enjoyed the app for X-Com and the added dimension it offered. But I immediately recognized the problem - the game will be obsolete, if not wholly unplayable, in a couple of decades.

As a result I am quite hesitant to embrace new tech being infused into board/minis games. With PC games I get it - I know I'm buying a game that in five years will be largely obsolete (though Steam et al are being quite nice in keeping games running on modern OSs these days).

YMMV

Atmosfear?

I think things are getting better in this respect though. With the internet and a world full of collectors and hoarders, most of this stuff is being archived somewhere and quite often being updated to run on modern equipment. I bet you could find a video for that game on youtube or somewhere.

I take the point though. I like the permanent nature of boardgames, I love that I can buy an old boardgame off ebay and it still "works". Games I have now I'll pass down to my children and they can pass on to theirs.

[LongBlade]

Atmosfear?

Artwork looks right. Geeze, it's been a long time since I've even seen the box.