I just can’t home after toying around with an ARKit app. I can tell you that I can’t recall having so much fun in AR. The funny thing is that this is just a simple interactive virtual character AR app for Christmas.To be honest, I thought I would just test it, see what it’s all about and maybe include it on my Christmas AR app list. I certainly didn’t expect to enjoy it so much let alone reviewing it.
Help Santa to Teach These Elves a Lesson
Take that, Elf! is a fantastic virtual character simulator. However, compared to other Pet app simulators like AR Dragon or Fiete Cats AR, instead of toying around with a cute loveable character you are interacting with an evil and nasty little Elf creature.
According to the developer, those aloof little creatures have no place taking part in the joy of the holidays. This is where you come in. Every year those nasty elves litter Santa’s workshop, wreaking havoc all over the place. Santa asks you to teach one of those dirty little elves a lesson, to whip them back into shape. Santa also told you not to worry, those nasty elves deserve the punishment.
You have to check out this video, fully!
Once the game starts you get to adopt one of those Elves, to make Santa’s life easier. I personally found this little Elf to be one of the most adorable little creatures I’ve ever seen in an AR game. I thought that it can’t get any cuter than the dragon in AR Dragon and then this guy comes. Yes, he looks quite nasty and dirty but so does Dobby from Harry Potter and Gollum from Lord of the Rings—both are kind of ugly and nasty, but I loved them so much. The same goes for our little fellow Elf, but between us, he looks much better than Gollum.
Funny Interactions
Take that, Elf! doesn’t feature lots of interaction, which is quite unfortunate. However, those five interactions that are available are funny as hell. You can throw snowflake-shaped Ninja stars, burn his behind, drop a large bowling ball on his add and electrify him. You can also hit him consecutively by tapping on him until he falls down on the floor—the animations for that part are really funny, you must try it out.
Furthermore, the Elf is aware of your location. When you move around the Elf rotates and looks at you—it’s really cool.
AR Experience
I’ve read on Twitter that “Take that, Elf!” was developed using Unity3D and ARKit. On the App Store, it says that the game is compatible with iOS 10.0 or later, I tried running it on my iPhone 5S without success but on my iPad 9.7-inch 2017 running iOS 11 it ran beautifully.
The app works flawlessly in AR. After ARKit detected a surface, it spawned the Elf on the floor. You can also resize and relocate the Elf when the game starts an at any given time from the main menu.
Visuals & Animations
The Elf 3D character is detailed and well designed. The most important thing here is that I was able to emotionally connect with the character. I enjoy and laughed seeing his reaction.
The Elf features very detailed animations and this is the main reason the Elf feels so much lively on the screen. All body parts were beautifully and meticulously animated, including the eyes, legs, tongue, belly, hands, mouth, years, etc. The shivering animation is a perfect choice for this character, so kudos to the animator or whoever decided to add it.
The Elf doesn’t speak, but it does really funny voices. I also liked his rusty voice, make it feel like a fantasy creature than a human-like one.
All those little things are immensely important and this is the reason why a simple and limited app like this one is able to deliver such a great experience. In fact, because it’s limited in features, I paid a lot of attention to the little things. Sometimes when I play other AR games, I tend to overlook some those fine details. In this app, I haven’t and this is why I was able to appreciate it more.
I still find the app to be lacking in terms of interactions and I do hope that the developer, We Are Royale, will add more interactions to it before Christmas.
Conclusion
Take that, Elf! came is a big surprise. This is a tiny yet immensely entertaining app for young and adults alike (Rated 9+ on the App Store). I enjoyed playing it better than AR Dragon, could you believe that?
Although the interactions are limited and the experience doesn’t last long, it is memorable and this is the important thing. I know I’ll remember this experience like I still remember how much I enjoyed playing Wonderboy when I was a kid. The enjoyment of the app doesn’t end after you finish it, it stays with you long after.
I came home with a smile on my face and I just couldn’t wait to share the gameplay video with you guys. Don’t forget to check out the gameplay video if you haven’t done it by now.
I think that now that Snapchat introduced its Lens Studio, allowing anyone to create and share Lenses, these type of interactive AR characters are going to be much more common. I’m sure if this Elf character was a Lens in Snapchat, it would have gone viral (maybe it’ a good idea to make it a Lens).
Overall, a great little app for Christmas, I had a great time with it. I never felt so much fun trolling a nasty elf in my life, especially in AR. Download it and have fun—Merry Christmas!
You can download Take that, Elf! from the App Store here.