Konrad the Kitten - a virtual but real cat

Konrad the Kitten – a virtual but real cat

Only playable with an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset!
(when playing with Oculus Rift, Oculus Touch Controllers required!)

You like cats and kittens? You have a Virtual Reality Device? This is your chance to have a virtual kitten which feels like a real one! Konrad the Kitten transports your plush toys into the virtual world and creates the first virtual pet you can physically touch.

Konrad can be played in a traditional style by holding the Controller in your hand and picking up a virtual kitten but the real magic happens when you play in “Plushie-Mode”. By fixing a tracked controller on one of your plush toys, you bring this toy into virtual reality. The VR-Device tracks your plush toy and replaces it with a cute kitten in the virtual world. This enables – for the first time – to not only see a virtual pet but also physically touch, lift, cuddle and play with it.

Every day when you look after Konrad, he has different needs and wishes. These can be sleeping in a box, drinking from a water bowl, playing with a ball, catching mice and more. By interacting with the corresponding objects, Konrad receives experience and unlocks new objects, minigames and areas. There is also a chance to start one of the 5 minigames to get some bonus. The whole game is controlled by lifting and moving the virtual cat. There is no need to push buttons of a controller. This enables an unbelievable immersion into the virtual world.
How it works and how to play
To play it, you need a compatible VR-Device with tracked controllers and (for best experience) a plush toy with at least 12-inch (30 cm) size. The plush toy doesn’t need to be a cat. It can be anything matching. You can also play the game without a plush toy but then a lot of the immersion is lost.
Preparing the game

1. Fix one of the tracked controllers upside-down on the back of the plush toy (for example with rubber bands or scrunchies). Assure that it’s fixed proper, so the controller can’t slip off the cat while playing. Also care about the lanyard of the controller. It should be fixed with the rubber band as well, so it cannot get stuck with something and secures the controller. After attaching the controller, place the plush toy on the ground in the middle of your play area. Finally, turn off any other controllers of your VR-System and then start the game.

Playing the game

1. Once the game has launched, you’ll see Konrad sitting in the middle of the play area.
   
2. Carefully (!) lift the kitten and place it on the “calibrate” marker to calibrate the ground. The marker will turn green after calibration.
   
3. Then place the kitten on the Warp Zone marker to go to the area selection.
   
4. For the first play, only one area (the kitchen) is available. So place the cat on this area marker to go inside the house. Other areas will be unlocked when fulfilling the cat’s wishes.
   
5. Place the cat on the ground at one of the objects. The cat will interact with the object. While interacting, you’ll see the progression bar inside the icon changing. After Konrad is done, the wish-icon disappears.
   
6. After an action is done, small hearts will appear. Catch them by moving Konrad towards them. Each heart will increase Konrad’s affinity towards you.
   
7. Sometimes a minigame is triggered. When playing a minigame (like the mouse-hunting), hold Konrad in both hands so he looks away from you. Move him around so he can catch the targets. He will automatically grab after the target, as soon as he is near one.
   
8. Fulfill Konrad’s wishes to unlock other objects, minigames and areas.
   
9. When Konrad is out of energy, he is tired for the day. His energy will have recovered the next day.

Why fixing a plush toy on a controller just for playing a game?
The combination of a plush toy representing the virtual cat in the real world gives a unique experience. You (or your girlfriend ;) ) can really touch the cat, it’s fluffy, you can lift it, move it around. That is unlike all experiences where you just have the controllers in your hand and press buttons.

Who created Konrad?
The first version of the game is created by the game designer as a single person. With an VR-System and a passion for making video games, he decided to do something special for his girlfriend their anniversary. Because of her love for cats and an idea of tracking a real plush toy in a virtual environment, the idea of creating a virtual cat was born. Programmed in the evenings while she was sleeping, just in time for the anniversary “Konrad” became ready to play. Her excitement of really touching this cute kitten made clear, that other girlfriends of other men on this planet should have this as well.
After great feedback during Steam Greenlight, there was a chance from FusionPlay to bring Konrad really to live and move the project from spare time into a real project.