{"id":385,"date":"2013-11-11T20:21:36","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T02:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/tiny-games-all-around\/"},"modified":"2024-12-02T13:31:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:31:27","slug":"tiny-games-all-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/tiny-games-all-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny Games All Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m\u00a0Rob Lockhart<\/a>, the Creative Director of\u00a0Important Little Games<\/a>.\u00a0 If you were to follow me on\u00a0twitter<\/a>, I’d be grateful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

When the awesome project\u00a0Tiny Games<\/a>\u00a0came to my attention,\u00a0I immediately became an enthusiastic backer. \u00a0Just recently, the iOS versions went out, and I eagerly opened this gift from my (more well-to-do) former self.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t heard about the project, Tiny Games is not a game for your phone, but a list of games to play in real life. \u00a0The app suggests IRL games based on where you are and what’s around you. \u00a0It sometimes asks silly little questions just to gauge what mood you’re in, or what kind of person you are.<\/p>\n

I’ve been trying to play as many Tiny Games as I can on my own, but it it’s difficult to make work for me. \u00a0For instance, Tiny Games includes a whole set of games to be played on the road. \u00a0I have a 1-hour commute to the Indie City Coop<\/a>, so it seems like an ideal situation at first blush. \u00a0Two things conspire against me. \u00a01) The mood of a commute is not often a playful one, and trying to force oneself into a playful frame of mind is difficult and unrewarding (as my QA friends know). 2) The games for one player are whimsical, but hard to find satisfying because they’re so vague. \u00a0Having vague rules for a multiplayer game can be a strength, because they create debate and house-rules and adjudication. \u00a0It’s not as much fun for one – perhaps a hint as to why solitaire is still the most popular 1-player game.<\/p>\n

Determined to play more Tiny Games, I asked my friends Brice Puls<\/a> and Miles Aurbeck<\/a> to come play with me in the park. \u00a0This was awesome, and clearly the spirit in which these games were meant to be played. \u00a0The games were mostly coop, and those that weren’t lent themselves to an amiable atmosphere. \u00a0We never kept score, and a good time was had by all.<\/p>\n

Inspired, I made an attempt at a tiny game of my own. \u00a0I wanted to make something that can be played in public with no equipment whatsoever. \u00a0I call it bump5shake.<\/p>\n

The rules of bump5shake are simple. \u00a0Two or more people stand at the bottom of a staircase in a well-trafficked public area. \u00a0Each of the players is trying to get to the top of the stairs before the others. \u00a0However, the only way to move up the stairs is to make physical contact with strangers.<\/p>\n