Hologrid: Monster Battles Kickstarter Hopes To Recapture Star Wars Holochess Magic

If you’ve seen Star Wars: A New Hope, chances are you remember the scene in which the droids and Chewbacca are playing a game of Holochess. A Kickstarter led by Phil Tippett, the visual effects master who created that game’s monsters, may bring a similar experience to your tabletop.

Using existing augmented reality technology (and an iPad or Android tablet you might already have), Hologrid: Monster Battles is a tactical miniatures game that uses cards on a large game board. The digital miniature monsters pop up on top of the cards when viewed through the tablet app. You’re forgiven if Sony’s short-lived Eye of Judgment comes to mind.

Hologrid: Monster Battles uses the same techniques Tippett used in creating Holochess as it was seen in both A New Hope and last year’s The Force Awakens. The monsters are first created as physical maquettes and then photographed from every angle to create a digital mesh.

Tippett Studios and developer Happy Giant are asking for $100,000 to make the project a reality. Those hoping for a copy as part of their backer rewards should plan on $30 ($25 if you manage to get an early bird spot). 

The box includes two card packs offering two champions, six minions, five spells, and a board card. It also includes a foldable tablet stand and game board. Stretch goals would result in expansion packs with new monsters.

Tippett and Happy Giant are going for a living card game approach rather than Eye of Judgment’s collectible card game model. There will be fixed expansions rather than blind-buy packs to increase your collection.

If the campaign does exceedingly well and hits the $1 million mark, development will begin for as-yet-unspecified newer platforms. These might include VR (Rift, Vive, PSVR) and standalone AR devices (HoloLens, MagicLeap, CastAR).

If successfully funded, Hologrid will be out this November for backers and December for the general public. As of publication, the campaign has raised nearly $12,000 of its $100,000 goal.

[Source: Kickstarter]

Our Take
I greatly enjoyed the technology behind Eye of Judgment (though its mechanics left a bit to be desired). Hologrid appears to correct some of those things, though the unit selection seems thin. At $25 or $30, the value is fair. I would just hope that the game picks up steam and grows over time, else the slim monster selection might get stale quickly.

The aesthetic is pure nostalgia. I remember watching Star Wars and wishing for a Holochess table. This is the closest thing we’ll probably ever get to that. My only reservation is that this seems like a departure from Happy Giant's past work in casual mobile games. That's not to say the studio isn't up the challenge, just that there isn't a resume filled with tactical PvP games for backers to rely on.