Sensible Object, developer of table top game Beasts of Balance, has raised $3.2 million to help develop the first board game powered by Amazon Alexa voice platform called When in Rome.
Games developer NCSoft and March capital headed up the investment, with the Amazon Alexa fund and London Venture Partners also participating.
When in Rome will go on sale July 2 on Amazon in Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. When in Rome launches exclusively for Alexa but will be made available in Q1 2019 for Google Assistant, according to CEO Alex Fleetwood.
The multiplayer game uses Alexa as your guide and provider of a multimedia experience. In the game players are introduced to locals in cities across the globe through trivia questions. The game was created with the help of writers, composers, and theater directors who handled the dialogue of local voice actors. Players are able to visit 20 cities by talking to the When in Rome Alexa skill.
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Sensible Object said a new package of characters and contents which is geared toward adults, will be available for download later this year. The new package takes people into the nightlife of the cities.
“When you think about having an amazing night out in a city, you don’t know the people you [will] meet, the kind of things that might happen. It goes into that kind of territory and brings some interesting ideas into the game,” Fleetwood said. “We’re working on music licensing for the game with local artists. So, for example, how do you bring the authentic sounds of contemporary Nairobi into the game, how can we bring that to life?”
Sensible Object, the London-based startup with 25 employees, has raised $5 million since its launch in 2016.
