Niantic announced that it is working on a new mobile AR game called Catan – World Explorers, based on the popular board game Catan. The company is also partnering with immersive theater studio Punchdrunk to create several other new projects.
Niantic is one of the biggest players in the mobile AR market, with a variety of successful titles like Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Now, the studio looks to expand its offerings with a new game based on the popular strategic board game.
Similar to other Niantic games, Catan – World Explorers is a multiplayer augmented reality title for mobile platforms, which “transforms the entire Earth into one giant game of CATAN”. Players will be able to “harvest, trade, and build in the real world as cities and landmarks transform into settlements where you can collect resources, construct buildings, and score points for your Faction.”
There’s a few graphics on the World Explorers website, embedded above, which indicate that the UI and general aesthetic of the game will continue the same style and use similar assets seen in Pokemon Go and Wizards Unite. There’s a few more gameplay tidbits over on the World Explorers site too.
Niantic also announced that it is partnering with Punchdrunk, an immersive theater studio, to develop multiple new projects. “I believe that Punchdrunk and Niantic can create something that has never been done before,” said Punchdrunk Artistic Director Felix Barrett. “They do it in AR, we do it in real life. Collide the two and I think we will blow people’s minds; bend the rules of genre and redefine the norms of mobile gaming.”
Catan – World Explorers will go into beta very soon and those who are interested in taking part can sign up online.
