City Games are a variety of board games designed to be played in cities. Each box comes with its own board and inventory: enhanced with creative technologies, these play tools provide a new way of creating magic.
Funded by aws Impulse XS program, for the production of the first prototype in 2016.
Overview
The idea of City Games comes from the desire to create a system that can bring creativity and playfulness into monotony of modern life. Games can induce a state of higher consciousness, openness and enthusiasm, and application of this into a city environment, especially using technology in magical ways, is the main drive behind City Games.
A City Game comes in a box, quite similar to card or board game boxes. This box includes a map, an inventory, and a story; still the differentiating point is that these items are upgraded with technology to make the experience even more magical and unique.
The city map will be a custom designed map of Vienna and will house paper electronics inside, like a small game control microprocessor, LEDs hidden under specific locations, and capacitive areas that enable interaction.
The inventory will come as a fabric bag and will provide items and tools that will become important throughout the process of the game. These can be be practically anything: metro tickets, blacklight stamps, keys, Bluetooth beacons, laser cut puzzle pieces, coupons, etc…
The third, and most critical item of the City Games will be the stories and games. Some stories will put you in the footsteps of the protagonists, unlocking their stories as you roam the city. Some games will integrate to your routine, giving you a different look on the things you see every day.
The City Games idea is to invent a platform that allows creation of perception-altering experiences in daily life. It will be open source, enabling all the interested parties to create their own games and experiences; and modular, allowing a hardware ecosystem for expandable maps and tools.
The concept will be carried out to be as reachable as possible, aiming to be open to players from age 7 to 77 by using the familiar form of a board game. It will address first the citizens of Vienna, but the experiences for non-locals will also be made possible.
You can read more on www.citygames.wien
Game Scenarios
Discover and collect the curiosities of Vienna, by trying to solve visual riddles on the map and spotting out the items around the city.
Inspired from The Third Man, the players go around in the city, listening with their radio investigator tool what’s happening under in the sewage systems, trying to solve the crimes of blackmarket trafficking in 1940s.
Follow the footsteps of a schizophrenic from 1930s, witness how his reality falls apart and the borders with fantasy blurs. Discover his hallucinations by using your blacklight torch to see what is not normally seen.
