Off the Menu is a big urban game for the adventurous foodie. The game invites people to explore new restaurants and food shops by completing and creating challenges that give players insider information about restaurants and shops around the city.
The game is played with an iPhone and makes use of the GPS functionality to track the players movements as they travel around the city. The game is constantly running in the background of the phone and only surfaces when the player is near one of the designated restaurants or shops, or “hot spots” as they’re referred to in the game. When near a “hot spot” the player receives a message that asks them to engage with the site through a challenge. Challenges can range from trying something on the menu to chatting with an employee to find the answer to a question. Players earn points by documenting the completion of their challenge through uploading photos, videos, or blogging on the Off the Menu web community. Players can also earn points by adding new hot spots to the game.
The primary research goal is to better understand how situated learning can be facilitated through embodied play and urban gaming. There are multiple levels of learning explored through the game: basic topic knowledge, player as designer, public/social interaction, cultural and neighborhood nuances. Off the Menu also explores new mechanics in urban gaming as well as the integration of real world and web presence.
to do:
- create a pre and post assessment questionaire
- find a laser printer for Tuesday
- set up the printing flow for volunteers
- masking tape and sticky tack
feedback:
1.What was the most fun part of the game?
- getting updates, made us more frantic
- challenges made us feel silly (chalk outlines, rioting)
- getting people to do things
- running around, racing other teams to locations
- running into other teams
- time constraints, competition between groups
- like an educational amazing race
- people’s reactions to trying to ask them questions
- buying pens from the store
- finding locations
2. What are three things you learned from this game?
- Tirangle Fire
- no protesting in Washington Square
- Writing with chalk is fun
- using my phone
- dealing with crashed server
- the riots and where they were
- NYC people can be extremely rude
- deaths by Washington Park
- 146 people died in the Shirtwaist fires
- New Yorkers aren’t very open to interviews
- history of the Stonewall Riot
- number of deaths in the Shirtwaist fire
- no one in a Union office wants to commit to answering simple questions
- unity for Barak will win the ware
- didn’t learn anything
- Stonewall Riots about gay rights, never knew those kids of protest happened so long ago
- 146 people died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
- no rallying or performing in Washington Sq Par
3. Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
- scoring for task, unbalanced
- some of the photos were hard to match up
- include a fact about the different topics in domestic violence fact, Cindy Sherman fact
- bigger maps of a key
- heave teams read through instructions before taking off
- more frequent status updates
- working materials, pen was out of ink
- more options for tasks
- fix the damn server
- quicker phone responses
4. Were the rules clear? If not, what was confusing?
- yes
- yes, very clear
- yes, but we were confused initially because were trying to read while on the go
- for the most part, missed the bonus cards
- yes
- it was unclear how to send off a completed task to the game master
- player to game master mechanic could use work
- directions on contacting seemed repetitive
5. Would you recommend this game to a friend?
- yes - 5
- hell no
- i’d recommend it to younger age group, like a school group who would be more apt to learn
clue kit enevelope
- location - 100pts
- event - 300 pts
- date - 400 pts
cards
- 3 location clues
- 9 event clues (3 that are your own, 6 that are other teams)
challeneges
- list/menu, more specialized to the site
- deal cards, less specific, general catagories like interview, recreate the event, and collect something
cards can be traded from one team to another by negotiating your terms with the other team:
- challenging the other team to a physical challenge, winner gets a card, loser nothing
- mutual trade
- rock paper scissors
- collaboration on activity
* to clear a site the answers collected must be sent by text to moderator
* send pictures as they are completed
1. A brief list of the research and experiments you’ve performed the past two weeks.
- I interviewed Katie Salen and among other things discussed the possibility of working with her and the Wagg Society on a big game called the Island Project. She also gave me a list of relevant contacts and offered to make introductions for me. Katie also pointed me towards some areas of pedagogy that I should research.
- I met with Anne Gaines, the director of Parsons Summer, Pre-College Academy & Continuing Education, about planning a special Election Day run of Re:Activism with prospective students. Following the game I will be facilitating a workshop about game design and testing some post game curriculum activities.
- I have been in email correspondence with Mary Flanagan from Tiltfactor. She has agreed to have a phone interview with me.
- I called a meeting with the Re:Activism collaborators to discuss refinements of the game.
- I wrote a new design document for Re:Activism that outlined new rules and game play that are congruant to my research questions. In conjunction, I have been working on creating playing cards for a new mechanic that will be tested.
- I have been working on a prototype of a multi-media timeline that will archive the media that is collected during the play of Re:Activism. I would like to have the media upload in real-time from phones during game play.
- I participated in the Little Big Planet game jam. My team’s game won the “most personal” award.
- I have been working with area/code on the creation of a game about the fiscal crisis. The game will be played on college campuses in the Spring. The development process is still in the brainstorming/concepting phase.
- I ordered buttons to use in my next prototype. The buttons say “Hablame en Espanol. Quiero aprender!” which is Spanish for “Speak to me in Spanish. I want to learn.”
A list of questions about process/procedure that have surfaced for you, as a result of what you’ve done.
- From my discussion with Katie Salen I have been reading specific texts about education theory. This has lead to questions about cognitive vs. situated learning. My research makes an argument for situated learning, but I would like to explore more about how cognitive principles can used in my game.
- Also from my discussion with Katie I have been asking questions about assessment. How can the learning experiences that I am creating be assessed after play?
- Drawing from the big games I have participated in I would like to question the notion of interface in big games. How can simple interfaces assist in the learning process when playing a game? How can they encourage public engagement in a big game?
- From my work with area/code I had been thinking about the value of spectacle in a big game. Does this encourage quality interaction with the public? Does spectacle serve as a secondary learning experience to the general public that observes or partakes in it?
- What game mechanics can be applied to a Re:Activism to replace the race or treasure hunt mechanic? Will other mechanics encourage more quality learning? Will losing the race mechanic make the game less fun?
I found Sharon Hayes piece at the Democracy in America exhibit to be the most inspiring. The recreation of the demonstrations she held this summer was compelling and recreated the ephemeral experience quite well. The scattered speakers and projections through out the space felt very much like you were walking through a chanting crowd, giving you the gutteral response to participate. The emotion and ernest expressions of the people participating also creates intimate moments while you watch them recite. Overall, I think it left an impact because it felt like a very immersive and personal experience.
On a side note, the Armory building is amazing. To be honest I was distracted from some of the peices by the architecture and interior design. I do feel like the show couldn’t have asked for a better space. The satire in many of the pieces was really elevated by the military ganduer of the building.
