We want to merge the social interactivity of traditional board games with modern technology and expand what is possible. Our founder Eric likes to play board games and got into making his own. Pretty much every board game he created required lots of manual labor to create cards, change the board, make pieces, etc. and it was just a very slow process.
One game, Barbarian Raid (a cross between Risk and Settlers), took weeks to put together. When we played we found out things had to fundamentally change and it took several more weeks to perfect. Eventually, he just gave up the physical board game altogether since it was taking so long and started work on a software version. As a developer it was easy to create the game. We made modifications to the game as we played it. Changes that would have taken weeks took minutes in programming. Every game thereafter was done on the computer as software.
At the time, we were still playing the games he created using a traditional monitor, mouse, and keyboard. This was really annoying. Only so many people can sit in front of a standing monitor and everyone had to share the mouse and keyboard. We started running it on an iPad which simplified things with its touchscreen and horizontal-ness but it was very small and we had to pass it around so everyone could see. There was also the problem of how to show private hands and information to each player.
To solve the bigger screen we ended up getting a Dell All-in-one and laying it flat. With its rounded back it kept rolling around - not ideal. Everyone brought their laptops to see their private information and we all sat around the bigger screen. What we found was that some people started running the player screen on their cell phones and tablets.
That was our Eureka! moment. We set about to make a device that had a big screen, ran games that we could program, and used our phones and tablets as player devices. This is the first one that was made:
We programmed many more games on it and to this day it hasn't moved from my living room.
The first prototype was made from parts from Home Depot. It was a full on table with a 32" Kiosk touchscreen and cheap Android tablets. Coming in at close to 150 pounds we gave it the affectionate nickname "Beast" but boy could we play games on it. Everyone who came over to play thought it was awesome. We programmed many more games on it and to this day it hasn't moved from my living room.
A problem arose when we tried to go on a cabin trip. We wanted to bring board games but couldn't take the Beast with us so we ended up bringing boxes and boxes of board games. We had this same issue when we went to other people's houses to play. They would always ask for me to bring it along but I wasn't lugging the Beast around.
The solution we came up with is essentially the current version of HoloDragon. A semi-portable touchscreen tablet computer. Just portable enough to move every now and then but big enough to play with friends sitting around it.
