Nuko // Card Reader

PROJECT/

Nukotoys creates video games that use trading cards to unlock good stuff in the game, and create connections between friends who trade them.  When we met, they were developing a game console that read the RFID data tags in the cards.  

Together, we took a step back and evaluated a range of product and business strategies and came to the conclusion that Nuko was in the card and game business, not in the hardware business.  Our response was to go from a game console that read RFID tags, to an RFID tag reader that could work across platforms.

RESULT/

Thing Tank’s “pitch perfect” card reader design helped Nuko win venture funding to get to market.  The realization that their business was about games and cards, not hardware, led to a reader-less version using the iPad as a platform. Nuko won Venture Beat’s inaugural Mobile Beat Tablet Game competition and have partnered with Animal Planet and the Ology Series (Monsterology, Vampiroeology, etc.) around game content.