Meta & Nerd Ninjas Transforms the Landscape of Tabletop Board Games into VR Experiences
Step into the future with Board Gamelandia, a new world created by Nerd Ninjas and The Op Games.
In the rapid evolution of gaming, innovation has always been the name of the game and we’re now seeing traditional forms of entertainment being reimagined and elevated to new heights. Consoles are designed for diskless gaming. Platforms are required to have complete backwards compatibility. Controllers are now more adaptive to accessibility needs. As technology evolves with our updated lifestyle, the same transformation impacts how we interact with our favorite pastimes.
At Nerd Ninjas, we are proud to announce our latest venture with The Op Digital, a subsidiary of The Op Games, to bring board games into virtual reality (VR) inside Board Gamelandia! With every dice roll and every piece move, it is an experience that goes beyond sitting at the table with your friends. Now, you can stand on the tabletop. You can navigate the entire environment as if you were the size of an ant. You are the game piece. Board Gamelandia, a bespoke world in Meta Horizon Worlds, is our invitation to the new future of interactive entertainment and gaming.
Inside Board Gamelandia
Rated as a “favorite world to visit” by players, Board Gamelandia is an immersive visual world inside Meta Horizon Worlds that features VR versions of award-winning board games from The Op Games. The hub currently includes: Tapple®, Hues and Cues®, Chess, and Checkers.
In the digital version of Tapple®, the pressure is even more paramount with an extra-large clock as players try to shout out words for different categories before the timer runs out! You can also make the color connection to communicate Hues and Cues® with a full-screen map of over 400+ colors. Or take the crown in the classic chess and checkers games!
Developing our World
“Great ideas come from everywhere,” Executive Producer Dave Beck notes. “Our studio is gamers first, developers second, and we make games that we want to play.” What started out as a fun Show-and-Tell idea within the Nerd Ninjas studio stemmed into a real and tangible concept for Board Gamelandia when partners Meta and The Op Digital recognized the potential for players to experience beloved board games from a new perspective in Meta Horizon World. As like-minded innovators, our shared passion for games enables us to redefine the wider entertainment industry by introducing The Op Games’ beloved games into this new medium through Nerd Ninja development.
Since then, our team of veteran developers and designers have been hard at work to reimagine the classic board games experiences virtually. “As gaming developers, traditional board games have always been part of our blood. We played board games and they inspired us, so bringing them into our expert medium of video games was a project we were happy to explore,” says Associate Art Director Cara Jones. From timeless favorites, like chess and checkers, to modern additions like The Op Games’ Tapple® and Hues and Cues®, we’ve not only recreated these games in a virtual environment, but also further enhanced them with features and mechanics to take full advantage of VR technology.
One of the most exciting aspects of digital board games is the sense of presence it offers. Founder of Nerd Ninjas Nate Chatellier says that “Board Gamelandia is alive with activity and discovery! Among our goal of building a transformative medium for board games, we also strived to have the most beautiful gaming environment in Horizon Worlds.” As you navigate inside, objects appear larger-than life and the rich details play off of the theme of a child’s playroom. Visitors will feel teeny-tiny in the tabletop landscape to provide a more intimate setting with the world by being up close and personal. Interacting with the world is just as fun as playing the games themselves (especially if you find one of the Hidden Ninjas)!
In addition, VR games also offer incredible accessibility by bringing them into a digital space. The classic charm of in-person Game Night no longer requires physical game pieces and is not bound to geographical limitations; players can now connect with friends, family, and even strangers online, anytime and anywhere. Whether you’re a seasoned board game enthusiast or someone who has never played Tapple® before, Board Gamelandia offers a welcome experience for endless social interaction and fun.
Using the dev tools on the Meta Horizon Worlds platform, “the development process never felt like work,” Game Designer Austin Abrams recalled. We were able to work in quick iterations and were given amazing encouragement from Meta to freely create our vision. Thanks to their platform being supported with ready-made features for 2nd party developers like us, our focus was less on the coding aspect and more on fun development of the user experience. Board Gamelandia has offered exciting opportunities for enhanced game mechanics and seamless player integration.
Of course, we recognize that VR technology is still relatively new, and there are challenges to overcome. From technical hurdles to ensuring a seamless multiplayer experience, there's still work to be done. But we're committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible and delivering an unparalleled gaming experience to our players.
Are you ready to jump into a whole new dimension, where beloved board games have found a place in virtual reality? Play Board Gamelandia in Meta Horizon Worlds now!
