A multiplayer-only drawing game? LOL!

by JC Fletcher { Mar 17th 2008 at 12:45PM }

"If the game is boring, you are boring." That's how Agetec is choosing to market a localized version of Skip's bizarre Archime DS, a multiplayer-only game that is entirely dependent on user-generated content. And we mean entirely.

LOL DS is little more than a networked drawing pad. One player issues challenges to the others and determines a time limit. It is then up to the other players to fulfill that challenge using drawings or words. The group then votes on a winner, who is then the leader of the next round. And that's LOL!

Is this emergent gameplay, or no gameplay? It's a very bold move on Agetec's part to release this, much as it was for Skip to release it in Japan.

Gallery: LOL

[Via press release]

Agetec, Inc today announced that it will be releasing LOL for Nintendo DS™ this May. A unique, free-form gaming experience, LOL's motto says it best: "If the game is boring, then you are boring."

"We decided not to include a single player mode in the game because that would defeat the purpose. This game was created to be a social game that allows you interact on and off Nintendo DS with your friends," said Mark Johnson, the producer. "LOL concentrates on the comedic joy of using the imagination of everyone in the room."

"LOL is a game with endless possibilities that can be played for hours and hours of nonstop entertainment," said Hiro Fukuoka, producer at Agetec. "As long as you are a fun-loving person with a little bit of an imagination, there should be no reason you find LOL to be anything less than a great time with your friends. It maximizes your creative abilities and puts a fun twist to it."

LOL is played by one of the players making a challenge in writing to the others. The crazier the challenge, the more fun everyone will have. The person who delivered the challenge chooses an appropriate time limit, and everyone has to answer the challenge on their touch screen however they see fit – with words, pictures, or whatever comes to mind. The host reveals the answers, and everyone votes on a winner who will then decide on the challenge for the next round. Always different and a blast to play every time, LOL will, as its name implies, make everyone laugh out loud.

Tags: agetec, archime, drawing, lol, party

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ssuk @ Mar 17th 2008 1:28PM

LOL? LOL!? What was wrong with "Archime" (It's original title in Japan).

Who ever renamed this should be shot in the scrotum.

JC Fletcher @ Mar 17th 2008 1:53PM

Archime DS may have been the final title for it, but it was originally developed under the title... LOL DS.

Skip developed a Dreamcast game called LOL ("Lack of Love.") When LOL DS was announced, everyone thought it was a sequel to that, but it turned out to be this instead, a "comedy trainer."

Phil @ Mar 17th 2008 1:29PM

Hmm...so one player sends a message to other players, who then respond with drawings...Isn't that called PictoChat?

Seriously, though, I'm not interested in this at all. But it better be cheap and support single-card play if it's going to be successful at all. Even if it does, I can see this getting boring for anybody after a few minutes when they run out of ideas.

If you ask me, they might as well have named the game "LOL I drew a penis!"

svolix @ Mar 17th 2008 1:30PM

Even before its release, Nintendo already beat them with a first-party title called "Pictochat."

Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force @ Mar 17th 2008 1:59PM

That's a pretty crappy panda bear.

Donald @ Mar 17th 2008 2:17PM

I will enjoy this game with a nice, tall glass of LMAOnade.

WhatIsThatThing @ Mar 17th 2008 4:24PM

and don't skimp on the ROFLMAOnaisse either.

Max Headroom @ Mar 18th 2008 12:44AM

Here's an internet site that does something similar. There's no interaction other than swapping pictures though. It is actually kind of addictive and fun once you start. I imagine drawing with a stylus would be much better than with the mouse.
http://www.sketchswap.com/

Jacob @ Mar 18th 2008 2:14AM

Why's everyone hating? I love drwaing orgy scenes and then all of my friends laughing...now we can vote on the best orgy scene! There also looks to be more tools than pictochat...the more tools to draw orgies...the better the orgy picture LOL (pun intended).