7 Micro Games

The first assignment is to create 7 non digital games, ideally one every day, that can be played with little or no props, and can be described with a concise ruleset (less than 800 characters). Classic examples are “The floor is lava”, or the Game.

Instruction pieces / scores

Artists from the Fluxus movement had a keen interest in games and procedural pieces. Yoko Ono wrote several poems that sometimes read like absurdist game rules or impossible performances.

Draw a Straight Line and Follow It -La Monte Young

Draw a map to get lost -Yoko Ono

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Unfortunately there’s no digital version of Grapefruit but you can find most of the pieces as scans

Psychogeography

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The Situationist practice of psychogeography and drifting, was theorized in ’50s but it has since been developed by artists and game makers into a genre of strategies for exploring cities, taking pedestrians off their predictable paths forcing them into a new awareness of the urban landscape.
Contemporary examples:

Transition Algorithm
by Suyin Looui, 2006

The Rules
1. Visit a neighbourhood in transition.
2. Take a photograph(s). This photograph documents physical changes to the neighbourhood and street life, whether they are juxtapositions, conflicts, changes in language, ideals and politics, interactions between people, old/new, rich/poor …
3. Take home a souvenir. This item cannot be purchased.
What would you take home to remind you of this place?
It should be a souvenir of the place you have visited and that marks the changes taking place in the neighbourhood. The souvenir can also be a memory of an overheard conversation or interaction.

You are not there
An urban tourism mash-up. It takes place in the streets of one city and invites participants to become meta-tourists of another city. Download a map, take your phone with you and go tour Gaza through the streets of Tel Aviv or Baghdad through the streets of New York.
http://youarenothere.org/

SF Zero

A community-sourced game comprised of micro challenges, usually psychogeographic, performance-arty, urban interventions, or mischievous daring tasks. Players join groups that have specific interests and missions. Examples of tasks:

“Insert information in a place that has an absence of information”

“Create a sculpture by arranging things you find on the street”

“Post a copy of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in your workplace lunch room. Document how long it takes for HR (or somebody else) to take it down.”

“Tip, in a non-tipping industry.”

“Create a message here on earth that is visible from space. The message can be text, pictures, or both. It must be large enough to be legible on Google maps or Google earth.”

http://sf0.org/tasks/

99 Tiny Games

99 tiny games

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Other tiny games by friends of hide and seek

THREESOME (VOYEURS ALLOWED!)
by Jane McGonigal
A game about uncommon things in common.
You have three minutes to figure out the strangest thing you all three have in common. It might be a place you’ve been, a feat you’ve accomplished, a person you’ve met, an experience you’ve survived, a job you’ve performed, a talent you’ve cultivated. Anything that’s true of all three of you technically counts as a win. But to make it a truly freaky threesome, try to come up with one fact that’s true for all three of you that you think is pretty unusual, awesome, or fun. Three minutes goes fast… so don’t hold back. Let the freaky facts fly!

THIS IS YOUR LAUGH
by Bennett Foddy
The more assertive player moves first. Say: “This is your laugh: “, and then do an impersonation of the way that the other person laughs. Then it is their turn.
You lose the game if you laugh for real, whether it’s your turn or the other person’s turn. Snorts are allowed. Titters are fair game. But anything from a chuckle up to a full roaring, crying, peeing belly-laugh is game over.
Your impersonation doesn’t need to be accurate or realistic, but you are more likely to win if it has at least a grain of truth to it. Do not play this game if your friend is easily offended and has a stupid-sounding laugh!

Casual Games for casual hikers / city walkers / protesters

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Casual Games for casual hikers site

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City Walkers

casual games feature

protestgames.org

Other resouces

Come out and play (check the archives)