This High-Tech ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Mat Redefines Card Gaming

Ever since the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game and anime made its debut, fans have wanted nothing more than to recreate the visually lavish virtual card battles seen in the anime series. Now we’re closer than ever.

One fan has went the extra, amazing mile and has created a play-mat unlike any other. With this high-tech awesomeness, even cooler duels are on the horizon.

Twitter user Reo shared his creation of a super high-tech Yu-Gi-Oh! playmat. Noting that the video is all realtime and without extra processing, the mat really is impressive. It registers the cards being placed on it well, and responds to each placement with great sound effects and visuals. Each player’s life point counters adjust in real-time (complete with the counting down sound effect of the series).

The even more impressive bit of technology comes in how well it seems like this can be projected on as many surfaces as possible, which will definitely make it feel even more like it’s technology out of the anime series devised by Seto Kaiba. There’s also a second video Reo uploaded featuring someone calling out an attack, resulting in a loss of life-points. That’s real future tech right there. Now all that’s left to do is to get this coolness out there to as many fans as possible.

Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally created by Kazuki Takahashi for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and ran from September 1996 to March 2004. The series follows Yugi Mutou, a young boy who solves an ancient puzzle and is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian pharoah. Being skilled at deadly games, the Pharoah goes on to create and solve problems for Yugi based on deadly games of chance.

Two anime adaptations were created for the series, but the one most fans will recognize is Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Duel Monsters was the first arc in the story to focus on the “Duel Monsters” card game and was the first season licensed for an English language release by 4Kids Entertainment. The first season of the series, which fans often dub as “Season 0,” was more focuses on deadly games of chance with horrible consequences. It’s a darker season of the series featuring many changes from the series’ identity later on.

The series is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year, and it’s now more popular than ever. Some collectors have made the merchandise even more valuable than ever, with some of the rarest cards in the trading card game selling for ridiculous amounts.