The Playroom is a casual video game that is a collection of augmented reality mini-games. It was developed by Japan Studio's ASOBI! Team division (later renamed to Team ASOBI), comes pre-loaded on all PlayStation 4 consoles, and is meant to demonstrate the use of the PlayStation Camera and the DualShock 4 controller. The PlayStation Camera accessory is required to play The Playroom. If a camera is not present, a trailer for The Playroom will be displayed instead of the full game. Firesprite, a studio founded by former employees of Studio Liverpool, worked on the visuals of The Playroom. Downloadable content is free.
It is the first game from Team ASOBI and the first game in the Astro Bot series.
Characters[]
Minigames[]
Play with Asobi[]
Asobi is a pet-like robot that can be summoned by rubbing the Touch Pad. Players can interact with Asobi in various ways, and Asobi has the ability to recognize different people through facial recognition. Asobi is an evolution of the previous Sony Computer Entertainment title EyePet.
AR Bots[]
AR Bots is a minigame that places forty robots in the DualShock 4 controller, which can be seen by swiping down on the touch pad in-game. When in the in-controller view, players can interact with the robots through the controller, utilizing the motion sensor and the buttons. The robots can also be displayed on the television instead of the controller screen by swiping up on the touch pad. When the robots are on the television, it is possible to physically interact with the robots using the PlayStation camera's depth capabilities.
AR Hockey[]
Air Hockey, referred to in-game as AR Hockey, uses two controllers to augment a virtual play field in front of the players. The motion sensor stretches the play field, and the touch pad is used to control the paddles to return the ball. The first player who scores seven points wins the game.
Downloadable content[]
There are four add-ons, all of which are free. Two of these add-ons: Toy Maker and AR Studio, enrich the experience by taking advantage of the second screen capabilities built into the official PlayStation App.
Toy Maker[]
Toy Maker is free downloadable content (DLC) for The Playroom which takes advantage of the PlayStation App, allowing users to interact with the AR Bots through tablets, smartphones or the PlayStation Vita. Players can create a two dimensional drawing which will become a three dimensional toy for the AR Bots to play with. The Toy Maker DLC was released on 26 November 2013 in North America and was available at the PlayStation 4 launch in Europe on 29 November 2013.
My Alien Buddy[]
Double Fine Productions created free downloadable content, titled My Alien Buddy, which utilized the skills in augmented reality mini-games that Double Fine learned while making the Xbox Live Arcade Kinect games Double Fine Happy Action Theater and Kinect Party for Microsoft. The alien buddy is a deformable toy with which the player can interact. My Alien Buddy was released on 24 December 2013.
Ninja Bots[]
A DLC game in which the player controls a ninja AR Bot, evading traps and firing shuriken. The Ninja Bots DLC was released on 13 March 2014 and supports up to four players.
AR Studio[]
Japan Studio created free DLC content, titled AR Studio, which, when used in conjunction with the PlayStation App, adds many features to help aspiring streamers set the stage for their own unique talk show. A few included features are: colored smoke that comes out of the Dualshock 4 by pressing the touchpad, up to 3 different colored spotlights, a variety of screen filters, and a handful of virtual masks the streamer can put over their face.
Trivia[]
- This game marks the first appearances of the Bots, known as AR Bots in this game, and Asobi. The former would later be the key supporting characters in the series and serve as Astro's crew. The latter would serve as the game's main character and a supporting character in the sequel, before being retired until he was brought back as a minor supporting character in Astro Bot (2024).
- The music that plays in AR Hockey during the regular rounds is reused in Astro Bot in the DLC level, Hard to Bear. In addition, the music that plays in the same minigame when one of the players is one point away from winning is reused in the void challenge levels of Astro Bot.
- The two tracks used in the AR Bots minigame would be reused in The Playroom VR's Mini Bots minigame.
- The design of the Alien from the "My Alien Buddy" minigame has some uncanny similarities to Nebulax.
- Although the Ninja Bots don't physically appear again after this game, they have been referenced several times throughout the series:
- In The Playroom VR, during the Mini Bots minigame, one of the Mini Bots can be spotted playing (and raging at) Ninja Bots in an arcade cabinet.
- In Astro Bot Rescue Mission, the level Dojo Danger (not to be confused with Danger Dojo from the 2024 game) uses a remix of the Ninja Bots theme, and at one point in the level, you can see an illustration depicting the Ninja Bots.
- In Astro's Playroom, at the beginning of the Raytrace Ruins section of GPU Jungle, 4 bots can be seen playing Ninja Bots.
- In Astro Bot (2024), there are two ancient Japan-themed levels, Bathhouse Battle and Danger Dojo (not to be confused with Dojo Danger from Rescue Mission) that reuse the Ninja Bots tracks, both contain the same Ninja Bots illustration from Rescue Mission, and the latter's mini boss fight reuses the Ninja Bots remix from Rescue Mission.
- The Playroom is referenced in Astro's Playroom through two artifacts, the DualShock 4 and the PlayStation Camera, with the former's description stating: "Legend has it lil robots live inside it!" (referencing the concept of the Bots living inside controllers) and the latter's description stating: "The perfect fit for your PLAYROOM!"