Barcode Beasties is one of the coolest game concepts for the Android platform. Unfortunately, at this stage, it’s not much more than a concept. This game requires that you have the barcode scanner app installed as well, so make sure you have that before you open the app.

The app is really simple. All you need to do is tap on the white part of the screen to load up the barcode scanner. You’re going to need to scan at least one barcode, but it becomes much more interesting if you scan two. After you’ve found your objects and scanned them both, you’ll be brought back to the main screen. Here’s where the game falters.

The barcodes you’ve scanned have created two Barcode Beasties. These Beasties are creatures that you’ll pit against each other to fight. The concept sparks thoughts of Tamagotchi, Pokemon, Digimon, and all those other toys from years ago. Unfortunately, all you end up doing is starting the fight with one button press and then reading the short write-up of how the fight went.

They’ve got the right direction with this app, they just need to make it more complex. The ability to actually see a turn by turn fight would be a good first step, but the potential to save and train your Beastie to battle your friends would make this game amazing. In its current state, it’s worth checking out, but keep your expectations low until the developers work on this app more.