The plot of the "Hide and Kill" resembles a popular game "Mafia". To start this funny massacre, participants have to be divided into two groups, killers and victims.
The participants install a special app on their smartphones or tablets, which allows diving into the augmented reality. They put on special tags, detectable by phone cameras, on their jackets. When the camera focuses on the mark, it makes a shot — and the victim receives a message that he or she is "killed."
"The main goal is to creep to a victim and focus your camera on his or her mark. We used the idea of the "Mafia" game so as to to check whether it’s possible to make the game in this way. Then we plan to work on game design solutions to emphasize the peculiarities of the game," says Valentin Vasilyev, one of developers of the "Hide and Kill."
The game was developed at a hackathon in the Yakutia Republic, which took place at the beginning of December. The limited time didn’t let the developers turn all ideas they had into reality. In the future, they plan to add more AR elements, for instance, put an effect when a smartphone shows how clothes of a killed person lighten or when a virtual arrow pierces the back of a victim.
According to Valentin Vasilyev, the idea of the game occurred him when he was at an office party, which was far from being extraordinary. So he thought to add fun. Hide and Kill makes an office party more interesting — it is appropriate for any group of people, as the number of participants is unlimited.
"When playing, you don’t have to be as active as when you play a sport game. "Hide and Kill" trains communicative skills and such abilities as attention and cunning," notes the student.
Valentin Vasilyev developed this game in alliance with two other students from ITMO. Now they have a prototype of the game. Before commercializing this project, the developers have to understand whether the game is interesting to lots of people. At the hackathon the project was appreciated by experts who gave them useful tips related to its promotion. To become a full-fledged project, "Hide and Kill" has to be tested by many people.
"There are lots of ideas of apps and games nowadays. The most difficult thing is to be sure that this project will be profitable and this game will be interesting for people. Sometimes one doubts whether one needs to spend money, time and efforts or not. That is why recommendations from an expert is a crucial thing," thinks Mr. Vasilyev.
As of now, the project is locked but the developers plan to continue working on it at the earliest opportunity.
