Can a mobile game created in Costa Rica rise to the stature of one of Japan’s most popular fanchises? According to Herberth Castro of the Jugador 1 blog in La Nacion, Micromon could elevate Costa Rica in the world of mobile and casual gaming.

In a small office in La Uruca, six Ticos are busy developing a new video game concept they hope will have a pervasive factor similar to the wildly popular Japanese media empire of Pokemon. The project started approximately eight months ago, and it is already sharing many similarities to the creatures that inhabit the colorful and complex Pokemon universe.

The name of the Tico software development outfit is MOGA, short for Mobile Games. Costa Rica is no stranger to mobile video game development, and while Micromon may sound ambitious, it is not the only Tico company aiming high. It could be argued that Saborstudios’ upcoming Pota-Toss could take on the hugely popular Angry Birds -a fact that is underscored by developer Rovio’s offer to the members of Saborstudio to join them. The Ticos opted to compete against them instead.

Micromon was inspired by the developers’ fondness for the cute “pocket monsters” that arrived on the Nintendo Game Boy portable platform. The idea is to create a similar concept of a complex universe where creatures can be raised and nurtured by the player inside a smartphone. The ultimate goal is to raise Micromons that can “fight” against other creatures and collect objects from them. The challenge for MOGA is to get those smartphone users who grew up with Game Boys to warm up to Micromon.

The game will initially take place in six different fantasy worlds where the Micromons hang out. They are cute, but they have a penchant for fighting. Micromon battles will give players the chance to capture cute monsters they can look after. There will be more than 100 Micromons to begin with, and they are tied to certain properties like wind, water, electricity, etc. Unlike the first generations of Pokemon, Micromons will not be pixelated characters. MOGA intends to take advantage of the high-resolution graphics present in modern smartphones.

Multiplayer and social elements are also planned for Micromon. Online scores and Internet multiplayer leagues will add to the game’s appeal, and a social network will be available for all players to share their experiences.

Like other Tico software development entrepreneurs have done in the past, MOGA has turned to the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform to finance part of their project. Costa Rica game development outfit WhyIdeas/Tree Interactive also used Kickstarter to complete their mobile app Tweet Land, a game that is powered by real-time events posted on Twitter.

If you are interested in learning more about Micromon, please visit the project’s Kickstarter page and consider investing in the future of mobile game development in Costa Rica.