Los Angeles, February 29, 2024 — A new augmented reality game transforms your living room into a frantic battleground, pitting players against “zombified” versions of their own digital friends—even their AI assistants. The game, dubbed Bitmoji Undead, leverages augmented reality to create a uniquely physical gaming experience.
A Room-Scale Zombie Apocalypse
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Bitmoji Undead offers an immersive AR experience where players defend their space against waves of undead Bitmoji characters.
- Players face three escalating waves of zombie Bitmojis.
- Unlike traditional mobile games, Bitmoji Undead encourages physical movement to evade attacks.
- The game culminates in a showdown against a colossal “My AI” zombie boss.
- Developers prioritized a small file size—under 4MB—to maximize accessibility for AR gaming.
The core idea, according to the game’s creator, was to blend the lighthearted appeal of Bitmoji avatars with the intensity of a survival shooter. Imagine your closest digital contacts, and even the helpful AI you interact with daily, suddenly turning against you. That’s the premise behind Bitmoji Undead, designed to bring a high-energy gaming experience directly into the player’s home.
How It Works: AR in Action
Bitmoji Undead is an augmented reality (AR) wave shooter where players must defend their physical space against hordes of zombified Bitmoji friends. The game unfolds in three increasingly difficult waves, with the zombies growing in number and speed, demanding improved accuracy and reaction time from the player. A key differentiator is the emphasis on physical movement; players can actually move around—or even “run away”—to create distance and buy time to reload.
If a player survives the initial onslaught, they face the ultimate challenge: a Giant My AI Zombie boss. The game utilizes World Tracking to ensure the zombies realistically appear to stand on the user’s floor, regardless of their location within the room. A custom script manages the escalating difficulty, increasing zombie counts and speed with each wave. Bitmoji characters are integrated through the Bitmoji Kit, with custom “undead” animations generated within the game’s development environment.
Building for Accessibility
A significant challenge during development was keeping the game’s file size under 4MB. This limitation was crucial to ensure the game could be widely experienced, allowing more users to enjoy the power of true AR gaming. The game was built using Lens Studio, a platform offering tools for world mesh creation and spawning.
The Importance of Environmental UX
The project highlighted the importance of “Environmental UX” in World AR. The creator learned that a player’s physical movement isn’t just an option—it’s a core mechanic. The game’s design actively encourages and rewards physical engagement, creating a more immersive and dynamic experience.
Future Plans: Deeper Immersion
Looking ahead, the creator plans to implement Depth Sensing and Scene Reconstruction. This would allow zombies to intelligently emerge from behind real-world furniture, such as sofas or desks, rather than simply spawning on open floor space. The goal is to make the “Undead” feel even more integrated into the user’s home environment, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds.
What are the benefits of using AR in gaming? Augmented reality games like Bitmoji Undead offer a unique blend of digital entertainment and physical activity, creating a more engaging and immersive experience than traditional mobile gaming.
