Free, fun augmented reality game moves into east side park

SAN ANTONIO — It’s a place where technology and good old fashioned fun are running around playing together.

Just ask six-year-old Alana.

At Copernicus Park on Lord Road for the grand opening celebration of a new augmented reality game, the excited girl said she was having fun overcoming obstacles and winning points.

Meanwhile, her older sister Lailani was busy running around the invisible course rounding up virtual robots.

Sharing a tutorial with a grownup, Lailani said, “If you see the cages they have monsters in them and you have to catch them!”

Their grandpa Gerald watched the excitement with a smile.  

“They are loving it!  The little one wants to do more,” Gerald said. “It’s interactive and it teaches them how to navigate with their cell phones, navigate through the courses and recognize objects and colors and activities and I think it’s very good for them.”

Asher McNicol, with the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, said “It’s a digital playground!  So that’s what makes it so unique.  Is you just need a phone. You just need a tablet and you can come out and experience, there’s ten games!”

McNicol said they are hoping this east side prototype is the first of many new ideas they want to spread around the city.

“We’re really hoping we can spread it to other parks throughout the city because it’s just amazing what you can do with just an app on your phone to get kids out into the park,” McNicol said.

Lauren Tarin is a Smart City specialist in the city’s Office of Innovation. 

“You can find dinosaur eggs and help dinosaurs. You can learn about pollinators and follow and act as a bee and you can even be an alien and help the alien save some of its friends,” Tarin said. “You can play for free and each game has a story line, so there’s a lot of reading that goes into playing the game as well.”

Tarin added the play space will be activated through the end of January, with special holiday game being added for the month of December.

“Kids can come out with their parents. Families can come out, download the Magical Park app, and once they are in this specific space at Copernicus Park, the app then goes live and you can enter a different world within our neighborhood, our park!” Tarin said. 

Brian Dillard is the Chief Innovation Officer for the city. Watching the pandemonium of parents and kids playing together, Dillard said “It’s beautiful. I see my neighbors out here. I see my neighbor’s kids out here.  I see communities coming together outside of where they usually would.”

Dillard said blending nature and technology to get people moving is a perfect fit.

“An active lifestyle is great for all kids and the adults have to chase after them so I guess it sort of stacks on top of each other.” Dillard said. “We get so locked into technology. It buries us in our phone. It’s an opportunity to still stay on your phone but really get out and about and bring the community aspect into it.”

More information about the game, which is completely free, can be found here.