Augmented reality might’ve been all the rage a few years ago, but since McDonalds and KFC started distributing AR card games with their kiddies meals, the magic has kind of died. But speaking of magic…
Stuff found the below video posted on the LinkedIn profile of the COO of a VR development company. The original link doesn’t seem to be live any more but, when it was, the tagline for the video simply said, “Augmented Reality Puts the Magic in ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Cards.” The footage appears to come from an app created by a company called BigAR, and has the potential to change TCGs (trading card games) substantially — assuming that the game’s developers support it officially, that is.
The concept of augmented reality Magic: The Gathering cards is one we’re surprised hasn’t been explored more. Board games and deck building games are the ideal industries to merge with AR, turning something that is already immersive for players into something even more so. Placing a new card down and seeing it spring to life could add a whole new dimension to the game, or games.
On the other hand — it could also be completely impractical. If you know Magic: The Gathering at all, you’ll know that it takes up a significant amount of space, time and focus — holding a smart device in front of you while trying to obliterate a Nicol Bolas with 2/2 Deathtouch rat army… probably won’t work. At least not in competitive play, but if you gave limited edition cards some limited edition animations it could make life even more wallet-draining for collectors.
This (possible) situation is where virtual reality or Microsoft’s Hololens concept could come in handy, especially if players are seeing their lands come to life with summoned creatures roaming around plains and through forests — imagine the (real-life) possibilities.
Soon we might see VR Settlers of Catan or even immersive destruction in a virtual reality Warhammer game. For now we’ll stick to vanilla Magic: The Gathering.