Image shared by Smithsonian’s National Zoo on Flickr via a Creative Commons License.
Just to let you all know that I shall hopefully have my first ever proper game played at Larkin’ About‘s Winter games event. I’ve been coming at the world of pervasive games and contemporary performance from a largely writerly point of view so far, hence my affinity for the soundwalk form, I think, and although I love crafting soundwalks, I thought it would be good for me to have a go at something looser, and more game-y (ludic, I should say) and force myself out of control.
I thought something simple would be a good place to start, so it’s roughly a treasure hunt/capture the flag kind of cross, the rule set as it stands thus:
Hibernate!
For 8-20 players
Set up
Your normal habitat’s food supply is under threat because of a Summer of floods and damp weather, it’s getting cold and you need to prepare for winter, so you’ve had to venture into the city to find food…
Rules
– To be played within a small area of dark city-space.
– Up to four teams (3 will work best, I think) – the Door Mice, the Voles, the Shrews and the Weasels.
– Each team wears a coloured glo-stick in their team colour and gets a certain number of the same colour, unsnapped.
– The aim of the game is to collect pieces of ‘food’ back at the nest.
– Players can only carry one piece of food at one time.
– There are 2 sizes of food, blue and red, blue food is worth 2 food-points and requires two animals to carry it, they must link arms to pick it up.
– Players cannot communicate using anything other than the word ‘squeak’, but they can mark routes with their ‘scent’ – snapped glo-sticks.
– If a nest is unguarded, the food stored in it can be stolen.
– The winning team is the one with the most food within 10 minutes. OR The winner is the first team to a certain number of foodstuffs and all at the nest within the time limit.
Needed per iteration:
– Glow sticks of up to 4 colours
– ‘Food’ hidden around the space, not too grouped together. Painted ping pong balls are best.
– Something to signify a nest
So there you go. Simple, I know, and I think for the next one I’ll try and play with the form a bit, but just as Walk With Me was my first 10 minute test of the soundwalk form, so Hibernate! will hopefully be a simple test of game-like stuff.
I’m currently working with the Larkin’ folk to iron out a final rule set, and all being well it should get its first test on the 27th of November in Manchester. Exciting!
Here are the full details for the Larkin’ event:
Larkin’ in the Winter
Saturday 27th November, 6pm onwards
greenroom bar, 54-56 Whitworth Street West, Manchester, M1 5WW
FREE
The theme ‘Welcoming in the Winter’ aims to celebrate the charm and magic of our fine Northern city in the winter. The programme includes Hide the Guy by local designer Matt Smith, a game where you must assist your fellow Catholics in hiding Guy Fawkes from King James’ Guards. Also, make sure you check out http://7candlesmcr.tumblr.com/ in advance of the night for a heads-up on some of the gloomy locations you’ll need to illuminate in Vee Uye’s game 7:Candles:Mcr, which will play out simultaneously in the city centre and on Twitter. Rumours are also circulating of the Spirits of Summer attempting to eliminate winter…get ready to protect the city in a secret game to be played at the end of the evening…
Wear all weather clothes!
And if you have any comments or suggestions, they’re very welcome.