EXTREME KENDAMA – DENDAMA, THE SMART KENDAMA. TAKE ON THE WORLD.
A 18th century Japanese folk toy loved by 21st century people around the world.
Simple in design and creative in function. A kendama consists of a circular ball, a string, and a finely-cut wooden base with 3 cups and a spike. Players hold a kendama in one hand and try to perform tricks by landing the ball into one of the cups or spike.
Wielding the kendama takes good hand eye coordination, balance, and practice to play and there is a natural progressions of tricks to learn as you move from beginner to kendama veteran.
The kendama has been trending in the USA and other Western countries and is now even spreading to other parts of Asia and has a following of 3 million players in its homeland Japan. The top 5 kendama players in the world are from the US and the 2015 and 2016 world champions were America.
Dendama is the smart reimagining of Japan’s folk toy, the kendama. The kendama has gained new popularity, evolving from toy to extreme sport. Dendama takes this evolution further. Trick training, battling and cooperative play are just the beginning. Kendama players around the world will be able to face off against each other wherever they may be. We have already produced the first round of Dendama in Japan through the Japanese crowdfunding site, makuake. With Dendama, we hope to open up the world of kendama to connect people all around the world. For this Kickstarter, Dendama is going 2.0, improving quality and user friendliness with improved balance and weight.
We have already produced the first round of Dendama in Japan through the Japanese crowdfunding site, Makuake. With Dendama, we hope to open up the world of kendama to connect people all around the world. Our new upgraded dendama has improved user friendliness with improved balance and weight and comes fully functional in English.
Kendama has traditionally been played by oneself. But as one gets better, it is only natural to want to share the game and keep on playing. As players enter their mid 20s and 30s in Japan and the US, it becomes hard to find friends to play with. That is what we wanted to change, and to add a gaming element to make kendama attractive to new players while keeping it competitive for veteran players.
Setting up your dendama is as easy as 1-2-3
Start low and go high with quest progression challenges. Dendama sets tricks you must hit before moving on. Trick difficulty is limitless. See if you can crown yourself champion! Updates will feature new quests for you to embark on!
As you progress in the quests and win battles, you will earn rewards. Rewards can be used as game tokens or to outfit your avatar with items with weapons, armor and accessories. You can be a Dendama Pirate, or even a Dendama Viking!
Train anywhere, anytime. Battles not going as you want? Quests kicking your butt? It’s time to get your training on. The trick list has explanatory videos to unlock the secrets and raise your success rate so you can land tricks consistently and confidently.
Players can battle against their friends in a variety of games and our app keeps a record of their wins and losses, rank among all dendama players, and their specialty trick to show of for bragging rights.
Landing a trick will fill your opponent’s screen with falling blocks. The harder the trick you land, the more blocks that will fall down.
You can take the safe route of doing rapid easy tricks or live on the edge and go for that one trick that will make it rain down like a storm on your opponent.
One of Dendama’s signature competitive games is Dendama Occupy. Strategy and skill will decide the winner in this grab for territory. Tap on the trick you want and complete it within the time limit to steal the spot from your opponent. Gain ground on your opponent to steal their spots away. Whoever is left with the most territory, wins.
You no longer have to travel to play kendama with your friends. With your skills brushed up, it’s time to get a Dendama team together. Cooperate in team only quests, and battle for top position in team tournaments. World tournament events are in the works.
Dendama uses a coil sensor, accelerometer and a gyro sensor. The sensors recognize where the ball lands and can analyze the ball’s movement to recognize different tricks.
Unfortunately, Dendama cannot sense tricks where the ball balances outside of the four main rests (like the Bird), and is something we will be looking into in the future.
We are planning even more ways to play Dendama, including real world gaming events, in app events and team play events for players to get together and have fun. There will also be world player rankings and a special invite only tournament to decide the best dendama player in the world.
We are working on a sensing system that will be able to recognize the full spectrum of kendama tricks. We also plan to allow developers to make apps for the dendama platform. We are looking forward to the types of quests and games that you will create for the dendama community in the future!
*Includes instruction manual.
**All pictures and videos are for concept image purposes only and will be updated.
***Specifications may change without notice.
Q1: How can I charge my Dendama?
You can charge your dendama by Micro USB.
Q2: How long is the battery life?
Battery life is around 5 hours (may vary depending on play mode)
Q3: Can I exchange the batteries?
Our batteries are re-chargeable, so you do not need to exchange batteries.
Q4: Is there a sensor in the ball?
There are no sensors in the ball. The sensors are in the main body.
Q5: Can I change the ball?
Q6: How heavy are the dendama and ball?
The dendama is made out of ABS Resin and we are aiming to reach a weight of around 90 grams or roughly 0.2 pounds.
Q7: Are there tricks that the Dendama cannot register?
Unfortunately, Dendama cannot sense tricks where the ball balances outside of the four main rests (like the Bird), and is something we will be looking into in the future.
Q8: Is the dendama durable?
The dendama has passed drop testing from heights of 6.6 feet. We are continuing to work on developing an even more durable dendama.
Q9: Can I play kendama in real-time with a friend?
Yes, you can!
You can battle your friend in kendama in real-time. It is not a turn based system.
Q10: What should I do if there is a problem with my dendama?
Please contact us directly from our website