Urban games

Friday evening I was at a Historic Houses Trust talk at the Justice & Police Museum, 'Mobile Histories', where three speakers presented examples and spoke about the scope and variety of urban games that are emerging as tech devices begin presenting opportunities for some really innovative ways to 'play' with the urban environment. 

I'm a big fan of urban games (also known as location-based games) mainly because I love love love discovering new ways to experience the city environment, so I'm of course fascinated by these real-time urban adventures that also throw in some tech wizardry (GPS, mobile phones, digital cameras, wireless internet, bluetooth, etc) to really enhance the experience.

One of the speakers, Richard Fox, talked in depth about his current project, Razorhurst, an urban game that we were fortunate enough to experience back in July when we were researching for our own game, CSI: Creative Science Investigation (see my previous two posts).

Tonight is the last night that the game is running, so if you're quick you have a chance to play it for yourself. Otherwise, Richard indicated that he is looking into ways to have the game downloadable from the website in the near future.

 

Razorhurst is a location-based media game featuring images from the Historic Houses Trust collection. It is based on historical events in Darlinghurst during the 1920s and 30s when there were gang wars over illegal alcohol, known as "sly grog". Some of the most terrifying criminals in Australian history lurked here with cut-throat razors, earning the area the infamous title of Razorhurst. 

Razorhurst is an interactive (real-time) mobile device (hand-held PC) game utilising GPS (global positioning system) satellite technologies. 

The game interface combines video re-enactments with actors, archival photos, animation, maps, ambient sounds and voiceovers. The player's movements are tracked by satellite and dynamically updated in the virtual world of Razorhurst.

The mobile devices are collected from the East Village Hotel (formerly the Tradesman's Arms) in Darlinghurst. From this central location players venture to destinations marked on their map to collect bottles for return the Tradesman's Arms. En route they encounter gangsters and other characters from the world of Razorhurst which are triggered by player's physical location. The interface also displays the player's position on the map, game statistics and time remaining.

Whilst the game is steeped in local histories, it's primarily about fulfilling the mission of collecting bottles to return to the Trademans Arms Hotel. Players have to be quick on their feet to get away from virtual danger, and they have to wear comfortable shoes because the circuit covers a lot of ground in the real Darlinghurst, Woolloomooloo and Surry Hills precinct.

Game time is about 1 hour, and winners return to the pub for a well-earned drink. Losers on the other hand, could be delayed at the original site of St Vincent’s Hospital recovering from a virtual "attack" acquired from the dark, gritty streets of Razorhurst.

The game runs until the 13 Sept 2009 (5:30-9:30pm) 
East Village Hotel, East Sydney
Bookings: [email protected]

Richard Fox's Razorhurst website: http://www.razorhurst.com.au/
d/Lux MediaArts website: www.dlux.org.au

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David Cranswick, the director of d/lux MediaArts, worked with Richard in the making of Razorhurst, and was also involved with the production of another wonderful urban game called Ghostgarden, which ran as part of the Sydney Festval 2008.

Ghostgarden took its participants on a surreal journey through Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, using handheld Pocket PCs and GPS to explore the Gardens as they were in the 1800s (a zoo and parklands) while engaging in the cinematic tale of Jack and Lucy and their impossible love.

During the Mobile Histories talk, David showed some lovely, evokative images from the Ghostgarden game - those featuring the illustrative talents of Australian artist, Anita Fontaine, and Canadian artist, Mike Pelletier -a hint of which can be seen here.

 
Images borrowed with thanks from the Ghostgarden website.

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A few other examples of urban games were also mentioned in the talk:

Geocaching
Considered the most prominent example of an urban game, having built up a very large online community of 'geocachers' around the world since it began in May 2000 (when GPS first became accessible to the general public). Wikipedia defines Geocaching as an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (tupperware, film canister, ammo box, etc) containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is most often described as a "game of high-tech hide and seek", sharing many aspects with orienteering, treasure-hunting, and waymarking.

Uncle Roy All Around You
A mixed-reality and locative-media game produced by UK-based Blast Theory in 2003. Street Players used handheld computers to search for Uncle Roy, using the map and incoming messages to move through the city. Online Players cruised through a virtual map of the same area, searching for Street Players to help them find a secret destination. Using web cams, audio and text messages players worked together to find Uncle Roy. The game also used phone boxes on the street and a limousine.

REXplorer
A mobile, pervasive "spell-casting" game designed for tourists of Regensburg, Germany. The game used location-sensing to create player encounters with spirits (historical figures) associated with historical buildings in the urban setting. A novel mobile interaction mechanism of "casting a spell" (making a gesture by waving a mobile phone through the air) allowed players to awaken and communicate with a spirit to continue playing the game.

Ghosts of a Chance
The Alternate Reality Game (ARG) Ghosts of a Chance ran from July 18 through October 25, 2008 as a collaboration between the Smithsonian American Art Museum and CityMystery. The game was based on two young curators who have been possessed by spirits, and saving them involved deciphering codes, following treasure maps, sending text messages, and uncovering hidden objects in order to complete three quests before time ran out.

 < Deciphering codes in Ghosts of a Chance

You Are Not Here
You Are Not Here was launched in 2006 as a platform for urban tourism 'mash-ups'. It invited participants to become meta-tourists on simultaneous excursions through multiple cities, i.e. a walking tour of Baghdad played through the streets of New York City, and Gaza City through the streets of Tel-Aviv. Passers-by stumbled across the curious You Are Not Here signs in the street. The YANH street-signs provide the telephone number for the Tourist Hotline, a portal for audio-guided tours of one place on the streets of another. Through investigation of these points and with or without the aid of a downloadable map, local pedestrians are transformed into tourists of foreign places.

 
^ Screengrab of the You Are Not Here website

Rider Spoke
A more recent urban game created by Blast Theory, Rider Spoke came to Sydney in February 2009 as part of the British Council's Creative Cities programme. Participant riders were invited to take a cycling journey through the streets and lane ways of The Rocks, either in their own bike, or one provided as part of the event. Equipped with a touchscreen computer mounted to the bike's handlebars, riders searched for an undiscovered hiding place, recorded their thoughts and reflections in response to questions posed by the artists, and listened to intimate reflections from other participants.

 
^ Promotional pic for the Sydney event of Rider Spoke

Check out the Wikipedia article about urban gaming - it has plenty of links and examples not already mentioned here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_gaming

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But I'm barely scratching the surface - there is just so much activity humming around this innovative little subculture at the moment, and the potential of urban games is only just beginning to be realised.

As the technology continues to develop and more and more people have access to iPhones, pocket PCs, mobile internet, GPS devices, digital cameras, etc, the development of urban games will be sure to follow. Exciting times ahead!

Comments

[Jay Dee]

Wow Michelle! Talk about information overload - great post :) - you don't happen to know of any Brisbane based urban games do you? I'd love to try one.

[E J Zyla]

I second that - Brisbane based Urban games???

[Shelbyville]

Actually, funny you should ask because I did in fact come across a few Brisbane-based games yesterday. Have a look at this Cipher Cities website http://ciphercities.com/thecity.php
and see if you can find them...