iCade, but it isn't often that entire apps are crafted with an external input device in mind.
While the surge of tablet and mobile touch-based devices brought forth a surge of several innovative gameplay concepts and ideas, it’s very rare that developers look beyond the screen itself. There’s the occasional external device, such as the iCade, but it isn’t often that entire apps are crafted with an external input device in mind.
Nukotoys would like to change that, and they’re looking to enter the digital market in a way that no developer has tried before. By combining physical cards with digital apps, they’re looking to branch the world of toys and gaming together in a fun and affordable package. In celebration of their MobileBeat tablet startup competition victory, and in anticipation of today’s worldwide release, we were able to catch up with Doug Penman, Co-CEO and Founder of Nukotoys, and talk about his company’s goals and ambitions.
Nukotoys are currently a card-based product that is activated by tapping a card to a tablet’s screen. Almost instantly after tapping, the game recognizes the card and brings it’s in-game equivalent to life. The technology is uncanny if you’ve tried it for the first time, and I ask Doug a little more to determine exactly what makes the technology work.
“They work with a capacity screen, so when we port across to Android, the exact same cards will work on all platforms,” he responds. “It uses your body’s capacity of energy, the way that your finger can touch the screen and work. But it runs it through and almost forms an electrical connection between you and the card that runs a unique card number into the game’s asset server, pulling up that asset”.
The concept of a complex action creating a single, magical in-game transformation has me thinking about another toy-based game: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. I ask Doug whether or not his company has been inspired by Skylanders, and what Activision’s incredible success meant for his company’s forage into the physical-meets-digital market.
Indeed, when compared to the high entry-point for the figure-based Skylanders, Nukotoys Packs are a bargain at just $1.99 for three randomized cards. A pack of seven cards is $3.99, and the exclusive 28-card box set will run for $19.99 at Apple Stores. And glancing over that fact – a presence in Apple Stores themselves – I realize just how much potential Nukotoys has of becoming a smash hit.
“For such a young company we have very strong retail,” Doug explains. “[We’re launching at] Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, and even the Apple Store. Apple’s very excited about our product, because it really promotes their technology. We’ve [helped build our presense with] some really interesting people from toys and cards and gaming, including Wizards of the Coast, Sega, Matel, and Pixar.
But it isn’t just big names in distribution and development, either. Nukotoys is hoping to kickstart their product success with two additional partnerships. Doug eagerly introduces me to his company’s first apps.
Opening the app up and exploring it, I quickly learn that this series could easily attract an older player. The toy-collecting aspect is a great hook for children, but the game itself offers a great level of depth and strategy.
“Your goal is to capture your opponent’s portal in a turn-based strategy game, explains Doug.” There’s a lot you can do: you can battle in the environment, you can drop catapults into the environment and launch characters in a sort of Angry Birds style, and you can play a variety of abilities and power-ups. It’s a really rich environment with a ton of gameplay. It’ll launch with single-player against the AI, but we’re currently developing multiplayer as we speak.
Nukotoys might consider themselves to be the Silicon Valley toy company, but after exploring the company goals and technologies, they might be better classified as “magicians”. They use complicated mechanics and technology in order to deliver the illusion of magic to others. And with their wide array of assistants, from development to distribution to licenses, it’s very likely that these two card games are just the opening act.