Bellevue game maker Smith & Tinker is dealing in mite-sized monsters with its first-ever product launch, but the company itself is one of industry heavyweights.
The local startup recently introduced Nanovor, a free online role-playing game for kids that features microscopic creatures battling for supremacy in the silicon world of computer chips.
The game’s developers include former Microsoft creative director Jordan Weisman, who oversaw the first two years of XBox titles; Joe Lawandus, who worked as general manager for Cranium and also led Disney’s North American toy business for a time; and Charles Merrin, a previous game executive for RealNetworks.
Smith & Tinker isn’t the first company to offer a role-playing video game, but it did break new ground with its Nanoscope, a handheld digital device that lets kids switch between online and offline play. Imagine taking a deck of Pokemon cards and transferring all the player data to a web-based account, or vice versa.
One advantage of the handheld device is that it removes any confusion over complex rules and math, both of which tend to become child barriers with traditional card-based role-playing games.
“The focus is on strategy, not figuring out the rules,” Weisman said.
The overarching idea behind Nanovor is that it bridges the gap between video games and that ever-diminishing pastime of face-to-face child interaction.
“One of the things we saw during our research with kids is that there’s a huddle factor when they connect these devices,” Lawandus said. “It brings a little more emotion out of them.”
Each Nanoscope has 128 megabytes of flash memory and a 24 gigabyte connection that allows instant communication. Kids can connect up to four of the handheld devices, and the characters jump between screens as they fight.
The Nanovor brand doesn’t stop there. Smith & Tinker now offers retail packages, each of which includes a Nanovor action figure, a comic book, and $10 in Nanocash. The company also posts weekly web cartoons and plans to release a graphic novel, as well as single-player Nanoscope cartridges later this year.
Backing for this endeavor comes from a group of well-known technology investors, including Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, DCM, Foundry Group, and Leo Capital Holdings.
All told, Smith & Tinker has raised $29 million in venture capital based on the premise that Nanovor can tap into two separate $21-billion industries: games and toys.
Nanovor went online in August, and the retail package hit shelves Oct. 1
Lawandus declined to comment on the number of online players or units sold, but he said his company has had to work lots of overtime to make sure its servers can handle demand.
Joshua Adam Hicks can be reached at 425-53-4290.
