Site-Specific Game: Apple Store iTag

The game

For the exercise in modifying an existing game to fit a new environment, my group decided to invent a computer-based version of Tag to be played in the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco. Here's how it would work: Players situated themselves in front of computer terminals on the first floor of the store. The game leader finds an open computer on the second floor so he or she has an unobstructed view of the first floor. The leader and the players all sign into an instant messenger program. The leader then chooses a non-playing customer and sends a message to the players describing a distinctive attribute of that customer. For example, the leader might send a message that says “Woman wearing green coat” or “Man carrying bag from Macy's.” The players then leave their terminals and search for the target customer. The first player to touch that customer earns a point. When a player earns a set number of points - five, for example - he or she becomes the new leader.

Problems

The main problem with this game is that I'm not sure it's possible to use an instant messenger account on a store display computer. Evading store employees and customers could become part of the game, but it wouldn't be much fun if players ending up standing around for long periods waiting for an open terminal.

I'm also concerned about the repetitious activity with little payoff. It may be fun for a little while, but I don't think it would sustain anyone's interest for long. The payoff would be, I suppose, getting to be the leader and being able to watch the action from above.

Another problem is inherent with all games of Tag. When is it over? I propose a few solutions below.

Variants

To more clearly define this activity as a game and provide it with an ending, players could eliminate the changing of the leader and simply work toward a set number of points. Or, the game could be modified into a scavenger hunt, in which players must find multiple customers from a messaged list of attributes. The problem with this variation is how to keep track of which customers have been touched (or otherwise identified). An honor system might work. In terms of a time limit for either version could be determined by how long the sought-after customer(s) remain in the store.

To go in an entirely other direction, the human scavenger hunt could be played anywhere: a park, a shopping center, Fisherman's Wharf, etc. The list of attributes could be general enough to apply to numerous people (wearing an Alcatraz t-shirt, for example). The players could carry cameras to record the finding of people on their lists. I like the idea that the people in the photographs should hold a sign of some sort. This would encourage interaction with non-players and add a diplomatic element to the game.

Other games

Nobody in my group was interested in my favorite idea: a race on a moving carousel. I liked the challenge of devising a race in a situation in which players are all moving at exactly the same speed. How could you do it? If you changed the goal of the game (to finish before all other players), it would no longer be a race. What other kinds of goals are possible that would still allow the activity to be called a race? I'm still pondering this one.