walkers_towers_trackers, '06
walkers_towers_trackers is a mobile urban strategy game where a group of people form teams comprised of "Towers" and "Trackers" who work collaboratively to search for, and attempt to encircle a small group (one to three people) of "Walkers". The intentions of the work are to explore collaborative activities that employ mundane interfaces (cell phones, chalk, pedestrian flow, etc...), take time to unfold, encourage exploration of an often familiar environment via an unfamiliar activity (often with strangers), and to suggest alternative uses for and actions with the tools of the everyday. This game is inspired by other such games and is yours to play and adapt. Please keep me posted on what you do and how you do it.
Description:
Assemble a group of players.
Make a list of who has what gear: e.g., camera phones, blackberry, PDA, street smarts, guile, etc..., and who would prefer to do what.
Break into mutiple groups of Trackers (groups of one to four work well), and a single group of Walkers (one to three works well, knowledge of the area is very useful).
Walkers will be pursued by all of the Trackers, and it is important that Walkers have a camera phone and know how to email images.
Walkers are a small group - one to three is ideal.
Each Tracking team will elect one Tower.
The Tower sits at a computer in a room with the other Towers from the other Tracking groups and receives periodic images from the Walkers.
It is essential that the Towers exchange contact information (cell phone numbers) from their respective Tracking party.
It is also essential that the Towers know where images from the Walkers are being sent - e.g., to whose email account.
Each Tracking party should elect one person to commicate, if necessary, with the other Tracking parties - this is particularly important at the end of the game.
In brief, during play, the Towers attempt to deduce the location and direction of the Walkers and communicate with their associated Tracker party to work together to find, encircle, and photograph the Walkers before the Walkers photo the Trackers.
The Towers receive images from the Walkers every five minutes.
The end game involves the coordination of the Tracking parties to surround the Walkers.
A variation exists where the trackers can eliminate each other by photographing each other first. This creates a layer of play where the Towers, who often share data and strategy, must change their behavior to keep their own team in the game….
Here is how to start:
1. Figure out the teams, and who wants to do what.
2. Define the field of play - where in the city can the walkers go - this is very important.
3 . Establish acceptable modes of transportation – we’ve used foot, exclusively. But other modes are certainly possible.
4. Decide what tech you have and how you would like to deploy it. We’ve used cell phones with cameras, email, google maps, chalk and hand-bird calls. The idea is to create networks that form any available devices into ad hoc webs. I’ve noticed that tracking parties tend to leave trails during rush hour(s). With practice one can learn to read their recent presence in a crowd.
The start of play:
* Walkers go to a place anywhere within the field of play - their location is unknown.
* Trackers get into unique positions at the periphery of the field of play and establish communication with Towers.
* Towers inform Walkers to start walking.
* Walkers upload a photograph from their location, as well as mark (in chalk) the time and direction that they are heading, every four minutes.
* Towers look at photo, and use any available resource (google maps are nice) to ascertain Walkers’ location and direction. Towers then contact trackers and tell them where to go.
* Trackers carry chalk or sound emitting device with them, which they also use to mark their time and direction at least once every ten minutes.
* In addition, Walkers and Trackers might be asked to carry a sound emitting device that they sound every ten minutes.
*The game continues until the Trackers surround the walkers.
* Walkers can eliminate Trackers if they photograph and upload the photo of them to the Towers before the trackers log a sighting of the walkers.
*The Towers must insure that the Tracking groups encircle the Walkers. It is very useful for the Tracking parties to be able to communicate among each other, especially at the end of the game.
Materials: Any mundane interface will do: I've used Cell phones with cameras, chalk, and a Google Maps App I wrote to help out the Towers.