''The Playroom'' is a casual

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

that is a collection of augmented reality mini-games. It was developed by

Japan Studio Japan Studio was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), it was best known for the '' Ape Escape'', '' LocoRoco'', '' Patapon'', ''Gravity ...

's Team Asobi division, comes pre-loaded on all PlayStation 4 consoles, and is meant to demonstrate the use of the

PlayStation Camera The PlayStation Camera is a motion sensor and camera accessory for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Eye for the PlayStation 3, which was released in 2007. It ...

and the

DualShock 4 The DualShock (originally Dual Shock; trademarked as DUALSHOCK or DUAL SHOCK; with the PlayStation 5 version named DualSense) is a line of gamepads with vibration-feedback and analog controls developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the Pla ...

controller. The PlayStation Camera accessory is required to play ''The Playroom''. If a camera is not present, a trailer for ''The Playroom'' will be displayed instead of the full game.

Firesprite Firesprite is a British video game developer formed in 2012 by former members of the Studio Liverpool based in Liverpool. History Firesprite was founded in 2012 by Graeme Ankers as Managing Director, Lee Carus as Art Director, Chris Roberts as ...

, a studio founded by former employees of

Studio Liverpool Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ell ...

, worked on the visuals of ''The Playroom''.

Downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

is free.

Minigames

Play with Asobi

Asobi is a pet-like robot that can be summoned by rubbing the Touch Pad. Players can interact with Asobi in various ways, and Asobi has the ability to recognize different people through facial recognition. Asobi is an evolution of the previous

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

title '' EyePet''.

AR Bots

AR Bots is a

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...

that places forty robots in the DualShock 4 controller, which can be seen by swiping down on the touch pad in-game. When in the in-controller view, players can interact with the robots through the controller, utilizing the motion sensor and the buttons. The robots can also be displayed on the television instead of the controller screen by swiping up on the touch pad. When the robots are on the television, it is possible to physically interact with the robots using the PlayStation camera's depth capabilities. AR robots can talk

AR Hockey

Air Hockey Air hockey is a ''Pong''-like tabletop sport where two opposing players try to score goals against each other on a low-friction table using two hand-held discs ("mallets") and a lightweight plastic puck. The air hockey table has raised edges ...

, referred to in-game as AR hockey, uses two controllers to augment a virtual play field in front of the players. The motion sensor stretches the play field, and the touch pad is used to control the paddles to return the ball. The first player who scores seven points wins the game.

Downloadable content

There are four add-ons, all of which are free. Two of these add-ons: Toy Maker and AR Studio, enrich the experience by taking advantage of the

second screen A second screen involves the use of a computing device (commonly a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet) to provide an enhanced viewing experience for content on another device, such as a television. In particular, the term commonly refer ...

capabilities built into the official

PlayStation App The PlayStation App is a software application for iOS and Android devices developed by PlayStation Mobile Inc. It acts as a companion app for PlayStation video game consoles, providing access to PlayStation Network community features and remot ...

Toy Maker

Toy Maker is free

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

(DLC) for ''The Playroom'' which takes advantage of the PlayStation App, allowing users to interact with the AR Bots through tablets, smartphones or the PlayStation Vita. Players can create a two dimensional drawing which will become a three dimensional toy for the AR Bots to play with. The Toy Maker DLC was released on 26 November 2013 in North America and was available at the PlayStation 4 launch in Europe on 29 November 2013.

My Alien Buddy

Double Fine Productions created free downloadable content, titled ''My Alien Buddy'', which utilized the skills in augmented reality mini-games that Double Fine learned while making the

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

Kinect games ''

Double Fine Happy Action Theater ''Double Fine Happy Action Theater'' (sometimes referred to as ''Happy Action Theater'') is a casual video game developed by Double Fine Productions and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. The title is a Kinect motion-sensing based title for t ...

'' and '' Kinect Party'' for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

. The alien buddy is a deformable toy with which the player can interact. ''My Alien Buddy'' was released on 24 December 2013.

Ninja Bots

A DLC game in which the player controls a ninja AR Bot, evading traps and firing shuriken. The Ninja Bots DLC was released on 13 March 2014 and supports up to four players.

AR Studio

created free DLC content, titled ''AR Studio'', which, when used in conjunction with the PlayStation App, adds many features to help aspiring streamers set the stage for their own unique talk show. A few included features are: colored smoke that comes out of the Dualshock 4 by pressing the touchpad, up to 3 different colored spotlights, a variety of screen filters, and a handful of virtual masks the streamer can put over their face.

''The Playroom VR''

virtual reality game A virtual reality game or VR games is a video game played on virtual reality (VR) hardware. Most VR games are based on player immersion, typically through head-mounted display unit or headset with stereoscopic displays and one or more control ...

, entitled ''The Playroom VR'' was released in October 2016. It contains a series of asymmetrical multiplayer minigames to demonstrate the features of

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...

(running on the PlayStation 4). It comes free with the VR headset and contains six

s: Cat and Mouse, Monster Escape, Wanted, Toy Wars, Ghost House, and Robots Rescue. ''The Playroom VR'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

based on six critic reviews. Simon Fitzgerald of ''

Push Square Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' called it a "good collection of couch co-op mini-games that demonstrate the capabilities of the VR headset superbly. Although a few of the games you'll play once and never touch again, Robots Rescue is a standout experience that you'll wish was a fully-fledged game in itself."

References

Notes

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:PLAYROOM, THE 2013 video games Augmented reality games Minigame compilations PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4-only games PlayStation Network games PlayStation VR games Astro Bot Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games Video games about robots