Robin Hood games

The ultimate immersive arcade experience at Nottingham Castle

Nottingham Castle’s challenge is that it isn’t really a castle and Robin Hood isn’t really…real. In 2021, the museum reopened following a £35m redevelopment. Preloaded was appointed to design a series of physical-digital games worthy of a legend known the world over.

CLIENT
Nottingham Castle

TECH
Unity
OptiTrack / Motive
Custom electronics & hardware

ROLE
Creative Director
(PRELOADED)

This series of groundbreaking immersive arcade games bring the world of Robin Hood to life for players of all ages and abilities. Based on real-time motion tracking technology, players use physical objects to interact with a digital world projected onto large screens.

Four converted coach-arches now host four arcade-style immersive games for up to four players at a time. Wielding a physical Quarterstaff, players learn authentic, medieval movements, culminating in a showdown with Little John himself. In the Longbow games, players fire virtual arrows from a physical longbow loaded with the latest motion capture technology.

Gameplay unfolds across a range of different medieval environments, from the farmyard and village fair to Robin’s forest hideaway. Every activity was inspired by authentic exercises practised by real medieval archers. Learning outcomes were layered throughout the experience so that even observers could pick up facts and stories whilst players frantically fired their arrows.

Gameplay and hardware prototyping before COVID-19 locked us down

Long-time friends and collaborators Artists & Engineers provided the electronics, world-renowned fabricators MDM Props built the hardware and motion tracking came from Target3D and OptiTrack. The hardware and electronics were engineered from the ground up, incorporating custom printed circuit boards, light sensor arrays and arduino-powered interface boxes.