Bounden

Bounden is an dancing video game developed by Dutch developer Game Oven in collaboration with the Dutch National Ballet. It was released worldwide on iOS on 21 May 2014, and on Android on 3 July 2014.

Bounden
Developer(s)Game Oven
Composer(s)Bart Delissen
EngineFuriosity
Platform(s)iOS, Android
ReleaseiOS
  • WW: 21 May 2014
Android
  • WW: 3 July 2014
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Local multiplayer

Gameplay

Bounden guides two players to dance using a single phone. The game features a sphere that rotates using the phone's gyroscope. The sphere has markers placed on top, lined up for the players to pick up by aligning them with the crosshair in the center of the screen. This interface shows both players how to rotate the phone together and in sync. Bounden has 8 dances in total: 4 playful, Twister-like dances made by Game Oven, aimed to get two people entangled. The other 4 are graceful, ballet-like choreographies made by the Dutch National Ballet. The game also features tutorial videos with Dutch National Ballet dancers, intended to show players how to move.

Development

Bounden started as an experiment to make people ‘dance’ together. After various prototypes, Game Oven found a way that was able to make two people, standing opposite of each other, move fluently and synchronously. As designing movements proved to be very difficult, Game Oven called the Dutch National Ballet to help make choreography for the game. Bounden is made in cooperation with the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet. The Junior Company is a group of young dancers led by dancer and choreographer Ernst Meisner, who is responsible for most of the choreography in the game. To show the collaboration with the ballet, Game Oven made a series of 'Making of Bounden' videos[1] during the development. Game Oven presented earlier versions of Bounden at the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the 2014 Game Developers Conference and the Penny Arcade Expo East 2014. Bounden was also selected as part of the Indiecade Showcase at E3 2014 and the European Innovative Games Showcase at GDC Europe 2014.

Reception

Bounden was released on May 21, 2014, and has received mostly positive comments. Many journalists praised Bounden for tricking players into dancing,[2][3][4] bringing players closer together,[5][6] and resulting in a "mess of limbs."[7][8] Los Angeles Times journalist Todd Martens noted Bounden might lead to "more physical contact than is likely appropriate for near-strangers."[9]

References
  1. "Bounden on Vimeo". Vimeo. Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
  2. "'Bounden' turns your iPhone into a ballet partner". The Verge. 21 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. "How Bounden will teach you ballet and help you hook up". Killscreen. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. "Built to Play 33: Max Pax". Built to Play. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. "Can an iPhone Game Make You a Better Dancer?". Mashable. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  6. "Bounden Entangles Gamers in a Complex Dance Duet". The New York Times. 1 August 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  7. "Bounden Review". 148 Apps. 30 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. "Dances with iPhones". The New Yorker. 12 June 2014.
  9. "The balletic 'Bounden' is a pas de deux with player 2". Los Angeles Times. 12 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
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