APD Week 8 - Play and Body

APD Week 8 - Play and Body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnQW2NVbSgg

Theme

To engage with this weeks theme, I wanted to completely detach msyelf from any digital ties. Embracing the phyiscal connotation that the body itself brings. I wanted to capture movement, and turn that into a form of play. But i was'nt sure how that would turn out, would it be rigid and have structures like a game? or would the play be led by the bodys movement and more free flowing?

Methods

I ended up creating a more structured game,  mirroring tabletop board games, but played physically.

Creating the gameboard can be done indoors or outdoors, by using any thing to mark off the areas, such as tape or chalk.

The way the game works requires at least two players to setup. A large space is required so this is best done outdoors. In the centre of the space, the ‘Die’ exists, a drawn target with circles that show a value. To use this physical die the players must jump and land on a circle within the die, without overlap. If they overlap the lower number will be taken. On either side of the players, several red and blue squares should be placed.

There are two main actions that players can take, they can attack or defend, indicated by the red and blue squares respectively. Play takes place turn by turn, with the highest rolling player starting first. To perform an action, a player must jump on to the dice to roll and then jump to an opposing red or blue square in the enemy’s side. The opposing player then does the same. Damage absorbed or given is calculated based on the rolled score. Whoever can bring down the enemy’s health to zero first, or has the highest health after a set number of turns wins!

If either player loses balance or lands one foot outside of a square, they do no action for that turn.

Context

The idea behind the game came from playing tabletop simulator with friends (Berserk Games, 2016). The idea of transferring a physically played game into the digital realm was a difficult and interesting feat. So why not try it the other way around? taking a board game, that could be played staticly sitting at a chair and table, and turn it into a physical activity, that added the element of dexterity to the decision making. In addition Street Tape Games was a big starting point for how a phyiscal game could work in a given space. Playing games outdoors also brings an added element of social interaction that can be more freeing, and build a much more spontaneous compettitiveness than the confines of a computer screen or a tabletop,

Reflection

This was easily the least in my comfort zone, when it comes to my responses for APD. Resisting the urge to enhance the game digitally was something that i had to deal with throughout creating this game, but i feel like it paid off. As matt pointed out, the die would be able to work as a socially distant rolling system, but could be improved apon by making it harder to step into specific numbers. Another area that i would have liked to expore in more detail would be how a game like this would function for those who are potentially physically impared, and if accessibilty can be built into game's such as this without compromising on the playfull nature of the game itself.

Downloads:

Download File: threeplayer.png
Download File: fourplayers.png
Download File: twoplayers.png