The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City is an officially DC-licensed augmented reality board game that blends physical and digital media to draw players into the depths of Arkham Asylum and beyond. Created by Infinite Rabbit Holes, the team behind 2008’s “Why So Serious?” ARG campaign for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the game blends AR content on your iPhone or iPad with the physical elements, and includes over 40 minutes of animated and live-action story scenes. There’s seven chapters that average about 8-10 hours of
collaborative gameplay, encouraging players to either binge straight through them or play over
time with the in-app save progression!
The game comes in a collector’s edition box stuffed with over 100 elements, including top secret Arkham Asylum files, classified Gotham City police evidence, custom game boards and pieces, artifacts, and buildings designed in Gotham City’s Gothic, Art Deco style. Gotham City becomes increasingly active as you delve deeper into its mysteries, allowing players to see life buzzing in its streets. By downloading the free companion app, your device interacts with the game’s physical components to deliver animated and live action story scenes, an original music score, and a surprise or two from the Clown Prince of Crime himself. In the future, Infinite Rabbit Holes says the game will grow beyond the initial chapters with the introduction of expansion packs for the board game itself, and downloadable content for the app.
The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City is packed with familiar characters and locales from the Batman universe for fans of the franchise. Those who are newcomers to either board games or alternate reality games, will discover The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City’s emphasis on its ease of playability, especially with friends (since board game players are biologically driven to snag anyone the least bit interested in board games, then convert them fully).
Panic in Gotham City has already received awards and positive reviews from players.
Pocket Gamer’s review states, “every piece is meticulously made and gorgeous enough to collect, and the combination of physical and digital elements does its job extremely well when it comes to player immersion.” The Nerdist says it “delivers puzzles and exploration worthy of Batman’s world.” Tabletop and puzzle YouTuber Chris Ramsay, whose YouTube channel has over 7 million subscribers, says “with Infinite Rabbit Holes, the world has never experienced AR quite like this before.”
Grab The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City for yourself and recruit some detectives to your side, or put your head together with a veteran group. Either way, good luck. You’re matching wits against the Joker’s madness-tattered brain.
