Flatland ARG!!! is an Augmented Reality Real Time Strategy (ARRTS) game based on Edward Abbot’s 1884 Sci-Fi novel Flatland. The gameplay is similar to aspects of flashlight tag, capture the flag, Starcraft and Stratego. The game is played on a standard sized soccer or football field. Each of the two teams has 3-6 players dressed in team costumes. The game has a fixed time limit and the winning team is the one with the most total polygon sides at the end of play. Each player uses a cast scepter equipped with a Nokia Tablet and custom electronics. Actions in the real world are represented in the virtual space. Teams can focus on gaining sides and on diminishing the opposing team’s sides using a range of game actions including revealing invisible structures and players, building structures, gathering and transporting resources, destroying structures, and attacking players. Some advanced actions require synchronized group “rituals” involving player positions and gesture patterns using the game scepter.

Additional inspirations: Stratego/Tactico, RTS games, synchronized dancing, military formations, automatons, Dada, Fluxus, Situationist and Futurist performance art.

Here is a test of the client interface and networking code:

Here’s some documentation of a small indoor play test

Here are some motion tests of some of the in game graphics.