Where’s Waldo AR
Designing a mobile game platform for the next generation.
Overview.
Where’s Waldo AR is a mobile game app for the next generation. The mobile game was created by turning the classic game of the traditional puzzle book “Where’s Waldo?” into an online platform with thousands of users. As an art director and UX designer, I developed the brand, the mobile interface, and the design system for Where’s Waldo AR.
Project Team
Moon Cho, Art direction and design
Kevin Bae, Art direction
Rosalyn Oh, Art direction
Sean Dong, Art direction and design
My Role
Art Direction
UX design
Motion Graphics
Year of Completion (Academic)
2019
The Problem.
Classic games made a comeback as online games and mobile apps. But they were simply given digital facelifts, maintaining the same gaming mechanics that fall short competing against actual modern games. Since Where’s Waldo puzzle books are limited by pre-illustrated pages of the past, they are behind the times and passing into oblivion as generations go by.
The Solution.
Our solution was launching Where’s Waldo AR app that completely redefines the way we play the game by merging the latest augmented reality technology with the classic Where’s Waldo puzzle book. By using AR technology, the app would turn any photos in user’s photo library into a game scene that the user can play. It would engage the next generation in intimate relationships and provide infinite resources to refresh players in every plays.
“How might we create unique gaming experiences for people who don’t have a nostalgia for classic games?”
The Competitive Analysis.
Classic games like Monopoly, Uno and Scrabble made a comeback as online games and mobile apps. But they were simply given digital facelifts, maintaining the same gaming mechanics that fall short competing against actual modern games.
Monopoly
Uno
Scrabble
Task Flow.
3 key steps to play the game.
1. Take a photo of a crowd
2. The game will automatically turn the picture into Waldo’s world. It even works with landscape photos and pre-existing photos.
3. Find Waldo. The game will generate and place Waldo in the crowd.
Here’s how it works.
The app will automatically convert your photo into a Waldo illustration-style scene and generate Waldo in the crowd. It turns any photo into a game scene that user can play. Face recognition. AR Image generation.
Beyond the limit of pre-illustrated pages of the past.
The app focuses on greater depth of engagement with a unique, personal experience of the user. Instead of finding Waldo in pre-existing illustrations, Where’s Waldo AR uses real photos. It turns any photos into a game scene that user can play. Getting emotionally involved in unique experience while generating an immediate illustration flows to further excitement.
Give yourself a Challenge.
Try the panoramic mode.
Challenge your friends.
Snap a pic, find Waldo as fast as you can and then challenge your friends to beat your high score. We added a multi-players gaming function to involve the next generation. According to research, people from Generation Z would mostly like to communicate and share their experiences with their peers online. With our insights, users can add easily other players and share their game scene to play together no matter how many players they add. Winner will be the person who finds Waldo fastest. Instead of being limited by pre-illustrated pages of the past, friends can now play and share the modern classic game as much as they want with their own photos.
The Style Guide.
Where’s Waldo (also called Where’s Wally) is a well-known series of children’s puzzle book. We renamed and redesigned the Where’s Waldo AR logo lockup, not only maintaining its own brand identity but also giving a hint of the updated game mechanics to our users. (logo, color, typo)
Where’s Waldo AR logo lock up
We’d tried several options for Where’s Waldo AR app Icons