What an eventful summer!

First, our honeymoon. We had a fun and relaxing time in Greece, and happened to leave just as things were getting “interesting”. I’m glad they voted No and curious/anxious to see what happens next.

Then Vipassana, a 10-day silent meditation retreat (link). We just got back. It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it. It deserves a blog post of its own. Much more physically and mentally demanding than expected, but filled with many rewards.

One interesting tidbit: Spaceteam’s monetization model was inspired by this retreat, after Sara did it 5 years ago. You spend 10 days in beautiful surroundings, learning and sleeping and eating, completely free. You pay nothing. This is in fact an important prerequisite. You must live on the charity of others. They don’t even accept donations until you’ve finished the 10-day course. After that they are encouraged, but not as a payment for services. You donate so that the next person can also do it for free.

I really liked this idea, and it’s what I tried to do with Spaceteam.

Finally, in early August we leave on a road-trip with Sara’s choir and then continuing on to Nova Scotia for my brother’s wedding.

So, many wonderful experiences but not much time for computer work. In the gaps between excursions I’ve been tinkering with CaptainsMess, Blabyrinth, Translation updates, and the final member of the Spaceteam fleet, on special order from the High Commissioner: Spaceteam Kids. This version has simpler words and slower timers but is targeted to kids in general and not ESL specific. However, using the ESL version as a base is making development pretty smooth and I don’t anticipate it taking a lot of my time.

Brainstorming

Even when I’m not at a computer, I can still do creative design work in my head. I’d like to share some of the new game ideas that are spinning around in there. Some of these will almost certainly get made into games sooner or later, but who knows whether they will maintain their current forms?!

Idea #1: “Cradles”

A digital re-invention of the playground string game “Cat’s Cradle”. Two players, facing each other. Each phone starts with the same geometric pattern/design on it. Certain gestures (eg. swipes, taps, holds, combinations) will manipulate the pattern. The players have to figure out which gesture sequence will lead to the next stage. They must perform the sequence together. The game will continue over several stages with each pattern leading into the next, until the final pattern and some kind of finale.

Each pair of phones will generate a unique pattern/sequence (or “cradle”) different from all others.

Idea #2: “Scribblington”

Cooperative drawing & storytelling game. Two or more players. Each player draws a scribble on their phone. A single meandering line. Curvy or sharp. Maybe with loops, crossings. The scribbles are then swapped between devices.

Each player is presented with three random “stickers” (eg. googly eyes, hats, tails, teeth, etc.) They must use these to adorn their partner’s scribble and build a “creature”.

Potential future steps include: picking a name for the creature, the sound it makes, its profession, situations and objects to be encountered. Each selection/creation step will involve a random limitation/mutation or combination of player’s inputs. In this way a collaborative but unpredictable story is built involving all the creatures. The story is then presented to the players.

Idea #3: “Campfire ritual thing”

Inspired by an MP3 audio walk/tour that Sara worked on for an Anthropology class. A guided experience shared by several players seated in a circle. The game learns the seating arrangement. Each player must wear headphones and place their phone in front of them on the table/floor. A shared audio track begins, informing the players that they are sitting around a campfire. They are encouraged to play along and imagine themselves being there. They are told to warm their hands by the fire, look into the flames, perhaps add another log. Then the fun stuff starts :) The game knows their relative positions so it can give slightly different narration per player.

eg. [Person A] hears: “A fire sprite leaps from the flames and lands on your arm!” while [Person B] hears: “A fire sprite … lands on [Person A]’s arm!”

Information can be hidden, or contextual:

[Person A]: “Sitting to your left is a foul-smelling ogre in a tattered loincloth”

[Left of Person A]: “You feel hot and sticky and the cool breeze through your undergarments is extremely satisfying”

Perhaps it can even give conflicting or ambiguous information to humorous effect as players interpret the same action in different ways.

eg. [A]: “(Place the amulet around your neck.)”

[B]: “[Person A] delicately puts a paper bag over his head.”

Silly gags aside, I think this setup could be used to create some interesting, meaningful, empathy-generating experiences. As of yet the game doesn’t even have any explicit interaction (with the devices), but it seems compelling enough that I want to experiment with it.

~

Right now I have about 7 days to work before the next excursion, which isn’t enough time to make substantial progress on Blabyrinth, so I’m going to try prototyping one of these smaller games! Blabyrinth will continue in earnest when I get back in late August.

See you then Spacefriends!