From Dungeons & Dragons to Settlers of Catan, tabletop games have long enchanted imaginations and created some of pop culture’s most enduring franchises. Now, the genre is getting a makeover as Blok.Party unveils PlayTable: the first video game console built with blockchain. Part tabletop-console, part-toys-to-life open ended character adventure, PlayTable builds upon the gaming foundations we all love and adds exciting new avenues of play and delight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfrkNDLjnfw&feature=youtu.be

Physical pieces, digital gameplay

PlayTable is a tabletop video game console with a large touchscreen in the middle of it. Designed for 1-8 players, people control the on-screen action with hands, smartphones and physical game pieces which are set directly on top of it. This unique technology empowers gameplay unlike anything before with an engaging mix of physical-digital interaction and shared-screen experiences that add entirely new dimensions to gaming.

After initial marketing tests that generated enthusiastic demand, PlayTable is launching pre-orders with a special introductory price of $349 (normally $599), which includes a debut title, Battlegrid, a card-driven fantasy battle where your characters fight head-to-head. Join the future here Blok.Party.

Blockchain-enabled gameplay

PlayTable’s operating system is built with the Ethereum blockchain, catapulting gameplay possibilities into new realms, like:

• Infinite character customization – Bring your own toy to PlayTable and see it come to life inside a digital world of play as a unique, collectable game piece or create your own game piece on a 3D printer
• Portable, personalized gameplay – Custom stats and abilities earned with custom objects stay with it no matter where you’re playing – your house or your buddies
• Secure and easy trading – The blockchain’s distributed ledger maintains records across the entire network so you can securely and easily trade your maxed out mage to a player across the world for a class you want to try

PlayTable comes bundled with Battlegrid – a multiplayer, fantasy RPG – and gives players access to top games, including Catan, Codenames, Ticket to Ride, Texas Hold ‘Em and many more titles soon to be unveiled.

“I grew up on and love tabletop gaming. An unfortunate part of my adulthood has been an increased difficulty in getting together with friends in real life to laugh, scheme and have fun together,” lamented Jimmy Chen, CEO and co-founder of Blok.Party. “We made PlayTable to bring people together and rediscover the magic of the communal gaming experience.”

Blok.Party is founded by an interdisciplinary team of forward-thinking engineers, gamers and designers. Jimmy Chen is the CEO and cofounder, who assembled a top team including Jason Ge, ex-Huawei VP of R&D, Sam Lee, Blok.Party’s VP of Hardware, whose past experience includes working on the Amazon Echo and iPhone and Dave Mata, a video game industry veteran with decades of experience producing and creating games at studios like uCool