I'm making a game?
Not something I ever expected to say, but — seeing as i went and made an Apple developer account and worked on some other related things, it seems like a good time.
It's an idea I've had for a while. I'll explain.
Remember Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go was a legitimate craze back in the summer of 2016. People loved it. It was a great use of the IP and, to this day, it's probably one of the better traditional-video-game-to-mobile adaptations out there.
What I found most fascinating about was how it made use of location. People were playing a video game, yes, but they were doing it outside. The real world, through a smartphone, was transformed into a video game world, and the only way to get that one Pokemon you didn't see a lot was to creep into that weird wooded area behind the township building.
Of course, Pokemon Go didn't really know or care much about the real world. It painted Pokemon indiscriminately onto its canvas and there wasn't much effort to personalize or localize. This isn't a shock. Pokemon Go scaled up to become a worldwide game, and the resources necessary to offer a bespoke live service experience for just one city would have been too costly.
But what if it wasn't live service? And what if it didn't go beyond one city?
One city that just happens to be the perfect place to do something like this?
Introducing... well, it isn't named yet
As of today, it is a mix of card collector, RPG and... traveler?
Don't want to get too much into the premise yet, but... New York City is the world, viewed through a modern day, alternate reality lens. Subway stations serve as hubs, as supply shops, as places to pick up new cards (if, sadly, you need to). Encounters take place in real-world locations with relevant story connections and stakes. There's lore to collect in books and chapters.
And, to encourage people to go out and take in the sights, Special Reqs (side missions) and World Secrets offer special rewards for those willing to explore.
All this to say: You cannot play this game outside of New York City. And you cannot play it if you do not move. To engage with any location and what's contained within, you must be within 100 meters of it.
There is still much work to do. Aside from the very early work visible above, I've also constructed an macOS campaign editor that exists solely to add data to the game (think cards, locations, shop items, etc.). I'm remarkably far along with the systems themselves. Less so with tying it all together into a compelling package people will want to engage with.
I'm not even going to try and guess at a date. (It doesn't even have a name!) But I thought it'd be neat to share what I've managed to pull together so far.
