On 5 July we were joined in the Studio by Alison John (yello brick) and Julian Sykes (Hoffi) for a brilliant Lunchtime Talk. For over four years Alison and Julian have been looking at how patterns, story and games, can be brought together to create unique experiences. With the goal of creating spaces that encourage trust, friendship and a new understanding of the urban environment that people take for granted.

The pair joined us to discuss their experiences of creating multi-platform experiences using online social media through to creating pervasive/theatre games. They started off by talking about their game everwake:

everwake

everwake was designed to be a new type of entertainment and narrative. Mixing street gaming with online storytelling and play to create and augment a magical and frightening world of ghosts and spirits. everwake was designed to blur the boundary between reality and fiction by introducing multi-platform elements to the storyworld that surrounded the physical event. They did this by creating additional online content that allowed people to engage with the world before the performance began. This was through:

Twitter account for the main character.
Two blogs .
6 Audio Stories.
Emails from characters in the performance to the audience. 
Text Messages.

This online world allowed people to interact as much or as little as they wanted to. The more they invested and explored the online content the more they were rewarded with extra nuances in the story. They explained this allowed people to dip in and out of content and provide different levels of engagement.  People who engaged with the online content didn’t necessarily have to play the physical game or vice versa.  Through multiple entry points the audience could create their own narrative of the experience and choose how and when they engaged with it. You can watch the trailer for everwake here and find out more on yellobrick’s website.

reverie

Julian and Ali then introduced us to their latest game reverie, which was the second instalment of everwake. In reverie you followed the journey of Tom Watson where you found yourself in a world between wake and sleep tangled with sweet reveries and twisted nightmares. You can watch the trailer here.

One of the biggest changes between the two shows was the scale; in everwake they showed for one night to 60 people, whereas in reverie they had a seven night run with over 275 people playing the game. They explained that marketing and selling the event was challenging at first because there isn’t such a defined language around experiences that meet theatre and game in Wales, as there is in Bristol or London, but it’s slowly being developed over time. They estimated that the majority of the audience were made up of theatregoers, and it sold well showing there is clearly a market for this type of experience.

Julian and Ali then stressed the importance of finishing off story elements you have started. During reverie one group of players demanded to see the end of the video that was cut off midway; but the film had only shot until that moment. They explained that it was a great learning curve and made them realise that whatever you set up you have to finish, and you should always have something to reward people who really go for it when taking part in the experience.

They then went on to say you should never underestimate how immersive you can make the story,  with so much before game content, people sometimes find it hard to understand when the experience ends. One of things Julian and Ali always try to do at the end is to bring people back together in a room to talk about the experience so they know that it is over, like the moment at a traditional theatre show where the curtain goes down and the audience clap.      

playARK 2013

They then introduced us to the playARK 2013 game commission call that is currently open. yellobrick are looking to commission game designers and experience makers to bring their games to Cardiff this November. The games can be anything from pervasive street games to computer assisted games. During playARK festival 2013 they will be programming two headline games, five pop-in games and then two games specifically for family orientated audiences. So if you have a game that you have already designed or you want to bring something new that will premiere at playARK they want to hear from you. Find more details and the application process here.