New Game of Thrones mobile game uses face recognition software to determine trustworthiness

Reigns: Game of Thrones is an upcoming mobile app game from Devolver Digital. The game will give players a chance to explore alternate futures for their favorite characters. The description makes it sound like a backstabbing good time:

"Players can choose to rule as Cersei Lannister, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark, and more while changing between each king and queen to face challenges and mysteries unique to their story. Melisandre’s flames have proven hard to decipher and less than reliable, so players may encounter stories they do not expect. Peer into the flames and you may see Cersei rebuild the Great Sept of Baelor or discover what could happen to the Seven Kingdoms if Sansa Stark married Jaime Lannister.Players will choose characters to claim the Iron Throne while carefully navigating the complex relationships and hostile factions of the Seven Kingdoms. Employ ruthless tactics to outwit political rivals, wield impervious charm on your fickle bannerman, and maintain the balance and favor of the people to extend your reign to maybe, one day, survive the horrors of a winter in Westeros. Decide the fate of Seven Kingdoms and those that reside in your land to the soaring score of the HBO series."

Reigns: Game of Thrones will be available October 18 on iOS for $4, with releases on Android and PC to follow. According to VentureBeat, fans who have iPhones with the Face ID face-tracking software — the X, the XS, or the XS Max — will have an extra advantage. The game, you see, will revolve around knowing who to trust. For those players whose phones can read their face, trustworthy characters will look you dead in the eye, even if you tilt your phone. Untrustworthy characters, meanwhile, will look away from you like the shifty Littlefingers charlatans they are.

It sounds cool, if a little creepy. Of course, if knowing who to trust were as simple as noticing who looks you in the eye and who doesn’t, Ned Stark might still be with us.

The story of Reign is framed as something Melisandre sees in her flames, and as we know, what she sees isn’t always reliable. Practically, that means the story can progress in ways that break canon. Want Daenerys to end up with Jorah? How about Tyrion ruling the Seven Kingdoms with wife Sansa Stark by his side? The choices are endless as long as players can navigate layers of political gamesmanship.

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h/t VentureBeat