Full disclosure, I haven't played Renga.
I few days ago, some local developers who made the trek to IndieCade showed me a video they took of a game called Renga. I've had a few days to think about what kind of experience Renga offers players based on what was shown me, and I still can't believe how unique that experience is. Games have come a long way, but there are still a staggering number of directions no developers have even thought to face yet. I love my blockbusters, but the holiday release schedule often makes the potential of this industry to create truly new experiences easy to overlook. I'm thankful for games like Renga to remind me how exciting game development is right now. There's nothing I want more than to have a hand in crafting a unique experience that contributes to this excitement.
So, what is Renga?
Renga is a cooperative game played with 100 players. It's an abstract space strategy game where players must defend their collective mother ship from hostiles and gather the resources necessary for expansion. Before play begins, each player is given a laser pointer. This laser pointer acts as their ship in game. Enemy ships have a number of nodes lining their perimeters. To destroy an enemy, at least one laser pointer must occupy each of these nodes. Larger enemies have a greater number of nodes. The mother ship too is lined with nodes. These nodes however, influence translation rather than destruction. To move the mother ship away from danger, players must navigate their lasers to the node facing the desired direction of movement. The more lasers in a node, the faster the mother ship will move in that direction.
Remember, there's 100 people playing this game at one time. Who's harvesting resources? Who's on defense? Who's looking after the mother ship? It's easy to see how this game works to foster teamwork through both spoken and unspoken communication between players.
I can't convey in any written form how excited I am that this game exists! There's a lot about this game that has to shown to be appreciated. In the video below, 100 people are playing, 200 more are watching. Listen for the spoken direction. Watch the cooperation. Feel the joy!
Cheers,
Danny
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