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In June this year, Nicky Case entered the #Nar8 Game Jam, a contest to create games that cross the boundary into interactive fiction with innovative storytelling methods and won with this 'half-true game about half-truths.'
Using his own story of coming out to his parents as source material, he's created an exploration of what to say, how to say it and what happens with the choices you choose in emotionally charged situations like this.
Speaking to Fast Company Nicky explains "I wanted the player to feel the stress of making the decision that I had to make, [...] Offering a lie, truth, or half truth increases the weight of the decision."
Nicky talks more about how he designed the came on his blog here and explains his dedication to make every choice in the game count, so characters would remember and echo back your choices. The game's dependency on your active choices to resolve the dilemma that's set in motion is surprisingly absorbing - having said enough initially to postpone and avoid any awkward confrontations for another round but never enough for his parents to let the subject drop.
As a game it's perhaps most effective when you don't treat it like one. Rather than trying to find the right, winning solution to the game - whether you have an idea of what exactly that looks like or not - it's most impactful when you approach its questions instinctively and honestly.
You (may) find yourself hoping, like I did, that events unfolding down your chosen path won't correlate with the autobiographical elements of the Nick's story but in any case, gamifying decision-based life events as big as this one works to remind us all of the numerous chances we have to respond differently to any given moment.
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Letting you watch international news without commentary and letting the images speak for themselves, each No Comment piece comes in around the 1-2 minute mark and focuses on anything from lighthearted lion hugs to violent political scenery:
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With the more thought-provoking content, withholding verbal commentary allows us more space as an audience to engage with their visual commentary instead - forced to draw our own inferences from the perspective we're shown rather than absorbing the story we're told.
Comparing the rapid-fire showreel we're used to on TV bulletins - visual video captions illustrating points in a flash - here the focus on consuming one extended video news piece whole rather than several scattered scenes. Those clips captured in one shot can feel particularly insightful, take this awkward fly-on-the-wall peep into breakfast with Obama and Putin for example.
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After her own viral video success showing her body-popping progression from bedroom breakdancer to subway Swan Lake-like star, all-conquering Karen Cheng has created a platform for others to follow her winning formula.
Choose your goal and then film yourself once every day, for a 100 days, getting better at it.
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That's all.
If you haven't seen the video of Karen's dancing take a look.
It skips forward about 50 days in the middle but the progression is stark nonetheless.
Interestingly, rather than following physical, skill-based challenges like Karen, a lot of the people using her platform have opted for more emotive targets such as Jessica learning how to be a mom, Joe H who tells his wife he loves her on a post-it each day or Miss Nosanchuck who shares one thing her 2nd learned daily.
As Karen says: 'What can you get better at in 100 days?'
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Foursquare
has been going through a very public identity crisis, divorcing itself from its fun, competitive check-in system by wrapping that up in its new app, Swarm.
If you've stubbornly/staunchly rebutted Foursquare fans like myself with complaints of not seeing the point in checking-in everywhere or not being bothered about points or petty mayorships then great news - that's all gone! ...from the Foursquare app at least.
A go-to for discover things to eat, drink, see, dance and do in familiar and foreign locations alike, Foursquare benefits from the breadcrumbs of real-life experiences and tips shared on the app.
Logo has also been improved but its the new typography and deep blurple colour that really gives the revamp some bite.
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Swarm
is now the home for mobile check-ins on the Foursquare platform.
The aim for this new app is not only to check in when you get settled somewhere but to plan ahead with Friends and/or see who's nearby in the neighbourhood so you can strike up a spontaneous plan of action.
Although the apps are technically separate, all new check-ins on Swarm will continue to enrich and help improve the personalised results you see when searching for ideas in Foursquare.
Time will tell if the two-pronged approach will pay off but it seems to me that two well-designed apps with clear distinct purposes are better than one.
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"What is art? Who cares? Why?"
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'the first all-female, all-art talk show'
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Touching The Art is a quirky and sometimes muddled mix of comedy, art chat and quick-fire questioning. Unsettling because you can't really tell which of those three it's supposed to be.
The show throws out more questions than it answers literally - in the show and from watching it. For example:
Is presenter Casey Jane Ellison seriously that silly?
Do her panel think she's for real? Does it matter?
Probably not.
As with lots of good things, it's hard to make out how it works or why but nonetheless, Touching The Art seems both intelligently entertaining and entertainingly intelligent.
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Fan of art or not, you'll enjoy either Casey Jane's blasé, non-sequitur interview style or the self-serious artspeak answers of her panel - unsure whether to act up to Casey Jane's über-over-it, art-brat style or play along as best they can offering snippets of critical opinion where possible.
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Is art evil?
Is the Internet dead?
Why is everything so POMO?
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