On Friday November 22nd, Museum of the Moving Image hosted a free GAMEplay/ARTplay GAME NIGHT, and it was a blast! There were half a dozen unique interactive games/art installations that one could play, all of which were projects of students and alumni of the International Center of Photography.
One game involved two people and a room with a sign on the door that read “You are now leaving the United States.” One person was on the outside of the room and looked in through a small rectangular window. The other person was inside the room, blindfolded, and wore a prison outfit. The two people communicated via walkie talkie, and the person outside of the room guided the person inside on missions involving the random objects on the table.
A different game involved four people holding up a boat that was meant to carry the dead spirit of a friend, with a video projected behind them that resembled a retro video game. The goal was to get the boat to travel 100 miles in under 10 minutes. Participants would pick cards, and depending on the card you picked, an obstacle or an aid would appear to help/hurt you on your journey. You would then roll a die to see how you fared against this obstacle. Once all four players picked their cards and dealt with their obstacles, the boat would move up 10 miles. My team was able to travel all 100 miles and safely deliver the spirit of our deceased friend, but it wasn’t easy. One of our teammates died and was brought back to life (phew!). I myself was extremely close to death, at one point having only one energy card. (Don’t worry, though. If I ever do die, my will stipulates that all my camera equipment will belong to BOAST so that readers like yourself can continue enjoying quality postings like this one.)
Another game involved a dark walled-off room, with a tent inside of it that emitted fog, and trails of cards around the tent. I wasn’t able to learn how to play this game, but it looked incredibly cool.
I had a ton of fun at MOMI’s game night. The students of ICP who created the games and their teacher, Sharang Biswas, did an excellent job, and I look forward to experiencing the next game night that MOMI hosts.
–Text and photos by Dov
