Star Wars took us to a galaxy far, far away, and what with glowing lightsabers, a jump to lightspeed, and Wookiees, it somehow felt strangely real. Another bit of world-building that impressed us was the holochess game that R2-D2 played against Chewbacca, once again seen in The Force Awakens. Now that holochess set is about to become reality — at least, virtually.
And it will be brought to you by the creator of the original holochess set, Phil Tippett.
According to a press release, Tippett Studios, along with Happy Giant, has announced their upcoming game, HoloGrid: Monster Battle. As with Star Wars, it looks like a holo chess set, but there’s more to it. Players use physical collectible cards to activate a new monster with its own abilities — and from what I can see in the video, above, it’s own attack moves.
It’s not the only game with a physical element, as Skylanders and Nintendo AR Cards can tell you. But unlike those games, HoloGrid: Monster Battle can be played on mobile devices, PCs and with next-gen AR and VR platforms. (Although the press doesn’t say it, I’m hoping we get to play it on an Oculus Rift or Vive.)
The press release says, “Players will be able to play head-to-head, either locally or remotely, and offline play is possible as well.”
Check out the video, above, which shows some seriously compelling gameplay. And although the press release doesn’t mention a release date, we can expect it not to be too far, far away.
As a sidenote, we suggest one crucial piece of strategy: Let the Wookiee win.
Feature Image Credit: Hologrid/Youtube