For this story we flew to Kentucky to interview the makers of an amazing story game that was created as part of our EBOW program (Engaging Beyond Our Walls). Written by Eric Schoenborn, a PhD student researcher at American University.
In July 2024, I visited our EBOW partners in Spencer County, Kentucky. I got a jarring question: “Can YOU survive 1824?” Anyone visiting the area, celebrating its bicentennial, saw signs with this question. “It’s our Oregon Trail game,” said Melissa Sanders, a Spencer County Library Associate and EBOW collaborator. Sanders had made a texting version of the classic game, The Oregon Trail. It used ingredients from our local story game recipes that I recognized. Stories inspired by local history, printed signs with QR codes, and playful prompts like the one to “survive” are some of those key ingredients. On this hot July day, it was clear Sanders and the Spencer County Library staff had a deep understanding of our recipes for story games. They knew how these recipes aligned with libraries’ missions.
Here are two pictures of the game in action:
Games did not surprise them
Despite stereotypes that libraries can’t make sense of games, these folks had no problem understanding EBOW as part of their mission. Playful City Lab’s EBOW initiative seeks to celebrate each community’s unique stories and libraries through locally made, whimsical story games. Every town is unique. But, all have a history, characters, and places. These are the ingredients for fun, interactive experiences. EBOW participants show us that local libraries have dedicated, hardworking staff that honor their communities’ ingredients. These libraries sometimes just need the chance and support to engage the community in these stories. This is exactly what we hoped to support through the EBOW training. Sometimes, that support means expanding the imagination to use these stories. Other times, it means building new skills.
Learning by doing
Like all our EBOW participants, Sanders was a first-time interaction designer. She knew there was history to make an EBOW story. But she needed support with the technical aspects of interactive experiences. We especially helped to train her on the Playful City Lab’s interactive platform, Hive Mechanic. Through trial and error, and a few short support sessions with our team, Sanders overcame the challenge of building experiences. Within a year, Sanders had gone from never having built an interactive story to having built her fourth interactive story game.
It takes a good leader
One way we look at leadership is whether or not a new project matches the mission – what we call ‘institutional alignment.’ Spencer County Library’s participation in EBOW is a great example of good alignment, although they call it something else. In fact, the Director of the Spencer County Library, Debra Lawson, laughed when asked if their participation was part of institutional alignment. Lawson instead saw participating in EBOW as part of their mission as a “good library.” The folks at the Spencer County Library had no problem recognizing how their mandate to be a good library aligned with celebrating their unique history by whipping up local story games. Instead of categorizing this all academically, as we do at the Playful City Lab, let’s take a cue from Lawson and her to-the-point style. Let’s chalk this up to being a “good library.”
Local Flavor and a Strong Library
In 1974, the famous video game The Oregon Trail was nearing its public launch in Minnesota. At the same time in Kentucky, Spencer County celebrated its 150th anniversary with a playful downtown festival. Fast forward fifty years to 2024. Locals were still recounting stories of their own playful history – including a fierce rocking chair marathon!. Our EBOW colleagues in Spencer County, thanks to a love for local stories and a strong library, made sure this playful tradition made its way to the bicentennial. Like many small towns we have come to know in our work at the Playful City Lab, Spencer County is brimming with traditions and local flavor. Perhaps others can take inspiration from how Spencer County demonstrated that strong leadership and a little support can lead to new kinds of locally made experiences.