Posts tagged as games

On the 1st November, I’m going to be talking at Playark 2013. It’s a new talk, called Driftwood:

A talk about making new things out of things that already exist. And not necessarily the most beautiful or advanced, but mining the readily-available and slightly out-of-date for new surfaces, platforms, and materials to design with.

It’s going to touch on Hello Lamp Post, and Noticings, and a few other toys I’ve been making that are beginning to fall under an umbrella I’m describing as situationist software. It should be weird and interesting, touching on ways of making both games and not-games. See you there, if you’re about!

News time! I’m very excited to announce that PAN Studio, in collaboration with myself and Gyorgyi Galik, have been awarded the Playable City Award from Watershed. Full details here.

Hello Lamp Post! invites you to tune in to the secret conversations of the city and communicate through lamp posts, bus stops, post boxes and other street furniture. Part game, part story, anyone will be able to play by texting in a unique code found on the city’s familiar street objects.

…except, of course, there’s a little more going on than that (although not how you might expect it).

It’s a hugely exciting opportunity. I’m particularly keen to see how the initial idea we’ve started from will develop and be honed as we design it, and work with the materials we have – which include both SMS and Bristol itself.

And, of course: it’s worth saying how flattering to be selected from such an excellent shortlist, full of peers and friends.

I’ll save writing any more about the design for the future – and, I hope, in a space with PAN and Gyorgy, where we can share our own insights into the project. Muncaster is go, then. Onwards!