Niantic announces mobile ar-game Catan: World Explorers

Niantic has teamed up with Asmodee on Catan: World Explorers, based on the board game Catan. The augmented reality game uses Niantics Real World Platform which is also used for Pokémon Go, Ingress and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Catan: World Explorers will be released soon for Android and iOS, according to a website that has been put online. It is not clear when the game will be available exactly, but interested parties can register to receive a notification.

The makers describe the game as an ar-game that transforms the whole world into a gigantic game of Catan. Players must harvest, trade and build settlements. Players must collect different types of materials in order to build, which materials are rare or abundant per region. There are characters in the game that players can trade with.

Interesting locations in the real world are used for the virtual locations in the game. The game uses Niantics Real World Platform for that. That ar platform formed the basis of Ingress and was later also used and expanded for Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Niantic makes the game together with Asmodee, the board game maker that owns the rights to Catan.

Niantic briefly mentions the Catan game itself in a blog with more announcements. The company says it has more than ten new games in development, including prototypes for AR glasses. All games revolve around exploring the outside world, movement and social interaction.

Niantic is also announcing a partnership with theater production company Punchdrunk, makers of Sleep No More, a theatrical performance set in a five-story hotel. Together, the companies want to develop new ways of telling stories in an interactive way.