This is part 3 of the AR Scavenger Hunt Series
Now that we’ve explored AR and Scavenger Hunt on a high level, as well as experience first hand what it can unlock, it’s time to make our own game!
Before starting to work on the game, let’s imagine the experience first so that we don’t limit ourselves to what we think we can do, but rather design what will feel the best. Try some of the following activities:
Immersing Through Narrative
Remember that AR is just a technology, and our game shouldn’t be a tech demo. In fact, your user will probably remember the story or the emotions they felt while playing a game than the mechanics of the game itself.
- Think about a well-known story or come up with a brand new one before jumping into production!
- How does the story exist within the AR realm? What interactions makes it unique to AR? How can it be immersive, imaginative and refreshing to experience?
The right story can be creative solutions to technical challenges, or make simple technical solutions into brilliant ones.
Who doesn't want to travel to space?
Immersing Through Activities
Once you’ve selected a theme for the adventure, think about what mechanisms you can utilize to express your theme in a unique and engaging way. These could be face expressions, image markers, tapping scene objects, cat or dog detection, hand gestures, pose matching and many more components available in Lens Studio
- What type of behaviors would grab the player’s imagination, and how can it feel natural in the narrative you chose. For example, maybe your players like cats and dogs, and there are cats and dogs in the area--then if you had a narrative of zoo keeping, telling your players to look for a dog makes it natural and intuitive!
Hint : Rather than adding artificial markers, you can use existing images at your location as a marker, and encourage your friends and families to re-experience known places
Pro-tip: Feel free to iterate on your narrative as you think about different activities. This is one of the benefits of brainstorming before building--you won’t feel too invested in your idea yet!
Maybe a drink coaster can help you on a roller coaster ride ;)
Drawing a Roadmap
Next - to make the development process smooth - outline your story at a piece of paper. For example, draw a square for every stage, fill in the action/actions required to pass it, such as the graph shown below:
Hint: Don’t forget to design some intricate hints/riddles to make things funnier to play. Rather than Find a Dog, maybe you can tell the user that they’re looking for someone to keep them safe and sound, or ‘human’s best friend!’
Creating Assets
Finally, you’ll need to prepare or create some assets such as: 2D images, 3D models, fonts, images. In fact, this can be your own mini scavenger hunt :)
- What assets can you use to reinforce the ideas you’ve collected. What kind of font might a futuristic space game have? Again, by allowing your players to draw on their previous experience, it will save you time from having to introduce them :)
The possibility is endless, the only limit is your imagination. Now, let’s set up your scavenger hunt game!
Tip: Lens Studio templates come with a lot of different assets. Try using them to get started!
How about a trophy in the Static Object Template because you’re a winner!
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Experiencing an AR Scavenger Hunt
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