About

Face-off in the Magic Circle is a multi-player spell dueling game designed for the Wiimote. The game lets players sling spells at one another in a game of dexterity and strategy. Using their Wiimote as a wand, players draw fluid, emergent gestures to charge up offensive spells, then mimic their opponent's gestures to defend.

But unlike many other gestural Wiimote games, Face-off in the Magic Circle pushes players to look at each other, rather than at the screen. To succeed, players must "read" their opponent and time their spells carefully.

Our aim is to re-energize the feeling of playing with each other, as opposed to the feeling of playing just against a game system. In most multiplayer videogames, players must carefully follow the action rendered on screen in order to understand the state of the game. In Face-off in the Magic Circle, the action takes place off the screen and in the physical world, helping to free players from the tyranny of the television set.

We are currently developing the game with grant support from the Danish Film Institute.