Earlier this week (Sept. 20, 2023) we were proud to present our Hive Mechanic system at the annual EdGames Expo. This public event is the primary federal showcase of “game-changing innovations” across 50 federal government programs, and is organized primarily by the US Department of Education. It was a thrill to showcase our work alongside […]
Category: Hive Mechanic
Audio experience: “Insider Voice-Over” (a case study with the Black Feminist DC exhibition)
This month we launched an interactive audio project (“Community Voice: Katea Stitt“) with the National Women’s History Museum and the DC Public Library. It is part of a larger exhibit, “We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC” that is on view in the central MLK Library through September 2024. Beyond this launch, more than […]
Recruiting 25 libraries: Become a hub for making local GAMES and outdoor STORIES
We are seeking US libraries to be hubs for making local GAMES and outdoor STORIES — in 20+ cities/towns. Applications due by March 3rd. For spring of 2023, we will supply game design expertise over Zoom and access to our new authoring tool for low-tech games for mobile devices and storytelling box installations. Phase 1: […]
Poster on Recent Work
For a presentation to the Board of American University, I created a large poster (4×3 foot) of our lab’s recent work: My goal was to show a visual snapshot of the kind of research we do. Of course, I couldn’t include everything, and so I picked a cluster of projects that seemed to tell a […]
Video: Mural hunt game (SMS clues, photographs, etc.)
In this short 3-minute video, I demo and analyze the game Mural, Mural on the Wall, which launched in 2020 for DC’s longest-running street festival: Adams Morgan Day.
Using WordPress as a Hive Mechanic Media Manager
Sending images via text message is one of the great things about Hive Mechanic. One way to make this easier is by using WordPress to manage your multimedia. Let me explain… Sending multimedia for anything made in Hive Mechanic requires the file to be online and accessible through a URL that ends with a filetype […]
For installations: A DIY Box (aka, the “MiDI Bee” for Hive Mechanic)
This post is part of a series on physical installations, which are important for public space and can radically expand the possibilities for games made with Hive Mechanic and other interactive systems. Our goal is to publish blueprints that use cheap materials from the neighborhood hardware store, so that anyone can make their own. For […]
Paper cards as on-ramp for Hive Mechanic (“hybrid cards”)
We developed physical cards as an on-ramp for making games in Hive Mechanic. In the online system, the card metaphor continues — and in fact, is central to how we help non-programmers to craft interactive stories and experiences. We were surprised at how making the paper cards helped us to simplify language for the digital […]
Article proposal: Hybrid cards to simplify game design
One of the neat things we are trying with Hive Mechanic is pairing paper with digital cards to make games. (Hive Mechanic is our game authoring tool for non-programmers and city leaders.) Why is this cool? Because everyone knows cards — and some cutting edge game designers use them as a creativity boost. Our inspirations […]