CityScrabble!

Volunteers needed for Patras Carnival 2013

CityScrabble will be one of the challenges facing this year's players of the game of hidden treasure in the 2013 Patras Carnival. The instructions online!

About CityScrabble

CityScrabble is a location-based game for open areas. It is played using android devices in places for which content has been prepared.

The game can be played in any open space. Examples are city centers, archaeological parks or other sites of some importance. It can also be played in closed spaces such as museums or any other relative large space.

In CityScrabble each player (or team) tries to locate locations or objects in space and connect them with keys (small sentences). In order to do that, she has to go near them (to trigger a gps proximity sensor) or scan a QR tag. When a location is identified, it can be connected with any key. Points are only awarded if the connection between key and the object is meaningful.

It is a competitive mutliplayer game. It can be played by competing individuals or by teams of 2-3 players. It should last a little more than 30 minutes, depending on the size of the area.

Key concepts

• Players. 1-3 per team. The winner is the team with the most points when the keys are all connected.
• Devices. Each team playes with an Android device with 3G/WiFi connection.
• Objects. The players have to connect objects of the real world with keys. The objects can be
  • Anything with an attached QR code tag. They are marked as found when the player scans them with the device.
  • Zones. They are marked as found when the device is within range of the zone, for example 5 meters around a point.
• Keys. They appear on the screen of the device. They are organized in themes or concepts. One key can be connected only by a single team in a game session. When the key is connected, it yields points, depending on how meaningful the connection is. When all keys are exhausted the game ends.

Athens Plaython 2012

CityScrabble took part at Athens Plaython 2012, at Technopolis. Technopolis is located at the old Athens gasworks, that has in part been turned to an industrial museum. It is a space where public events and exhibitions are regurarly organized. During the event, CityScrabble was awared with Plaython Innovation Award!