Tontachi at Play NYC | Urban Electronic Games on Pokemon Snap and Mario Kart Inspired AR Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJXcrFm3NM8

We recently attended Play NYC, a New York based convention that highlights local video game and tabletop game developers. Nerdy Thirty Podcast co-host, Christina Crisfield, and I spoke with Urban Electronic Games’ John Wolff on his studio’s innovative Mario Kart / Pokemon Snap inspired game, Tontachi. Some parts of the interview have been edited for clarity.

PopGeeks: Tell us about Tontachi.

John Wolff: What we have is a mixture; Tontachi, first of all, stands for either “pig” or “pig friends” in Japanese. You know Tamogatchi, which is “tamago,” “egg,” or “Tomodachi,” which means “friends.” Tontachi means “pig” or “pig friends” because “ton” means “pig” in Japanese. So, this is a mix between Pokemon Snap and Mario Kart. We’re actually using the same technology that was used to make Pokemon Go in this game. So it’s [that engine is] actually running around in the background.

What happens is you have a really cute character. We’re previewing them here. These are our collections. And you are going off to go find them in the world. It’s kind of like, again, Pokemon Snap. Once you find one, you take a picture of it. Then, what you can do from here is that you can actually race against [the ton]. You race, and then you bring that into augmented reality. You make a racetrack, and you make the racetrack wherever you want, like right here, anywhere you want. And it’s a race track built with AR, and it conforms to the environment. So if it’s on a table, you have one leg here, one leg on the ground, a tree over there, everything. Then you race against other tons and go round and around. And if you have another person scan the QR code, they can see [the race] from their perspective. So, up to four people can play in real-time, in real space, and at a real location with an augmented reality game character that you own and that you care for. The more that you train it, that’s where it is. And you can either do it locally with your friends or even go to official locations and do your races there. It’s kind of like how Pokemon Go has gyms.

PopGeeks: What would you tell parents looking at Tontachi who have had trust issues develop because of other AR games?

John Wolff on Tontachi: People are really sedentary. So, there’s a map on here. It’s geolocation. We put all of our races in parks. So they’re not like in the street. They’re all actually grass areas. So, if you were to play the game, and if you were to look for something to do, you would naturally find yourself in a more nature-oriented environment. That’s kind of nice little boon, that we can say that, you know, if you want someone to come out of the house, and you want someone to go explore the world. There are actually three pillars in the game. It’s globetrot, compete, and reward. So I would just tell parents to be like, you know if you want your kid to explore the world, have them explore the world with this digital pet they have as well. But you know, there are sedentary options. But the game is better if you participate in AR and if you participate outside.

PopGeeks: Why use a pig in Tontachi?

John Wolff: So this game derives actually from Japan’s first blockchain game. I had a really cool, unique experience when I was living in Japan for four years. I speak Japanese. [in Japanese] Afternoon! My name is John. Nice to meet you! [/in Japanese] I’m a game developer. So, at a city called Fukuoka, I worked at a video game studio. They were making Sanrio-based video games like Hello Kitty. So it’s pretty interesting to be exposed to this kawaii element of games when I was like, my Western self wants to play, you know, more like, you know, hard games like Call of Duty or something. So, it was very aesthetically pleasing to get into this. We made this game called Crypt-oink, Japan’s first blockchain game, in which we pivoted from making Sanrio games to making a really cute cuddly game in which they had pigs. And I was like, “Why did you guys pick pigs?” They were like, “Well, we thought they were cute.” And you know, cats have had their time. Dogs have had their time. They’re like, “Okay. Let’s see about pigs.” So, I pay homage to that time that I spent over there with them. And their characters are actually interoperable in [our] game. We have our own characters. So, ours are called “Newtons.” Theirs are called “Cryptons,” and they’re both there in the world to explore. So, it’s a spiritual successor to this game. And I still go back to Japan occasionally to go walk with them and talk to them. So that’s kind of like how the game kind of became Tontachi and is also pig-inspired.

PopGeeks: Yeah, I’m partial to pigs.

John Wolff on Tontachi: Yeah, we actually did something for National Pig Day. It’s actually funny, tomorrow’s National Friendship Day, which is again funny because, again, this is “pig friends.” So, we’re gonna be like, “Yeah, FRIENDS!” or something like that. But it’s really fun because it allows my company to kind of have this softer, kawaii element when it comes to this game. It’s an amalgamation of my entire career of working in Japan, working in mobile, and then now working in augmented reality. Again, they had to kind of partner with us for this game. So we have a really cool backing and support system to be able to do all this other great stuff. We’re on Netflix, you know, this game is talked about on Netflix if you ever want to see it, “The Future of: Gaming” [Docuseries] where we talk about these technologies and the cautions against them. Because honestly, as much as we want people to be, you know, in nature within our game, we also want you to actually put the phone down and go, “Oh, there’s a tree here.” So, really being able to bridge those two things together, getting people to leverage and augment reality, no pun intended, is kind of actually what I’ve always wanted to do as a game developer ever since I’ve been in the space.

PopGeeks: What cultural differences have you noticed with kids in Japan playing games versus American kids?

John Wolff: So, I love this. I love this. It’s like my bread and butter. I actually wrote a little research paper about this. So, cultural values bleed into favorite game genres. So I’ll say it in Japanese. I’ll say it in English. Over in America, we have something called “kojin shugi,” individualism. So, if I were to ask you, if you don’t mind me putting this right back on you, What kind of games do you think reflect individualism? Or a more individualistic nature? What’s popular in America when it comes to game genres are first-person shooters because it is me trying to take you down. You know, we’re very much like, we’re trying to do the best I can do at my job. I’m over here trying to get my rewards and everything. And the game genres reflect that.

People, on the other side, in Japan have “shudan shugi,” collectivism, with all of us against a common, or not even against, it’s all of us for an external threat. And what games are like that? RPGs. You know, it’s like, it’s not about me going against you; it’s all of us as a party going, “Hey! Those genres don’t do well in other areas. First Person Shooters don’t do well over there. And on the flip side, yes, of course, there are people here as gamers who love RPGs. But that’s not, you know, you don’t see people being like, I’m trying to get that new Final Fantasy like right now. I mean, sort of kind of, but not really, they’re more like Call of Duty. So it’s fascinating how that bleeds down into, you know, into all generations grow up with that.

So, if you were just born and you’re over in a different country, you’re going to end up playing different types of games. So it’s really a cultural thing. I mean, there’s really no answer to it, as opposed to just being sure people are exposed to [different genres]. But the game genres reflect who we are more than the other way around. So it’s really a regional thing. Like, you can’t change that inherent thing because culture and language are so tightly embedded together. But it’s amazing to be able to see it. Like, you know, if I were to have kids, I would want to expose them to all types. But you learn different values when you’re playing these types of games. I’m not gonna say they don’t have merit, but it’s fascinating to see the difference.

Tontachi is available in early access on iOS and Android at Tontachi.io.