Available now for PS4 or PC and Mac at www.waldengame.com or gameinnovationlab.itch.io/walden! Winner of the Games for Change 2017 Most Significant Impact Awards and Game of the Year, as well as the IndieCade Developers Choice Award 2017.

Walden, a game, simulates the experiment in living made by Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond in 1845-47, allowing players to walk in his virtual footsteps, attend to the tasks of living a self-reliant existence, discover in the beauty of a virtual landscape the ideas and writings of this unique philosopher, and cultivate through game play their own thoughts and responses to the concepts discovered there.

The game takes place in a real-time 3D environment which replicates the geography of Walden Pond and the woods in which Thoreau made his home. Beyond the replication of a virtual environment, however, the game play itself embodies the experiment that Thoreau set for himself, reinforcing the basic messages of his work.

Walden, a game posits a new genre of play, in which reflection and insight play an important role in the player experience. While traveling the virtual world of Walden, the player applies themselves to both daily task of maintaining the basic aspects of life at Walden Pond, as well as having the opportunity to focus on the deeper meaning behind events that transpire in the world. By attending to these events, the player is able to gain insight into the natural world, and into connections that permeate the experience of life at Walden.

Walden, a game simulates both personal and environmental life, modeling the basic personal needs outlined by Thoreau, as well as some of the more experiential concepts he described. Furthermore, the game takes advantage of the detailed notes that Thoreau took about the pond, and its surrounding landscape, flora and fauna.

The design team that recreated Thoreau’s life at Walden Pond worked together for more than ten years to bring this game to life. As well as myself, the core Walden team was Todd Furmanski, Luke Peterson, Georg Luif, Michael Sweet, Michael Sweet, Timothy Lee, Logan Ver Hoef, Alex Mathew, Kurosh ValaNejad and Shaun Kim.

Available now for PS4 or PC/Mac at www.thenightjourney.com.

The Night Journey project is a game project conceived by Bill Viola, an internationally acclaimed artist and MacArthur fellow, which uses video game technologies to explore the universal story of an individual mystic’s journey towards enlightenment. The game was developed in collaboration with a team from the USC Game Innovation lab, including myself, Kira Perov, Scott Fisher, Andreas Kratky, Todd Furmanski, and Kurosh Valanejad.

Our team spent many years exploring narrative, visual and procedural themes related to the topic of enlightenment and the possibilities for the project allowed by the game medium with the objective of creating a work that stretches the boundaries of what games may be possible of communicating with its unique content and mechanics.

Narrative inspiration for this project includes the lives and writings of great historical figures including: Rumi, the 13th century Islamic poet and mystic; Ryokan, the 18th century Zen Buddhist poet, Shankara; the 8th century Hindu mystic and commentator on the Upanishads; and St. Anthony, the 3rd century Christian desert father.

Visual inspiration has been drawn from the prior works of Bill Viola, which afford reference for 3D objects, scenes and presences in the world; provide textures for the landscape and objects; and permeate the world itself, creating a bridge between the “real” and the “imagined,” memory and experience.

Procedural inspiration is based in a set of deign goals that have arisen from a central question asked early in the design process: what is the “game mechanic” of enlightenment? How can we abstract and systemize such an intensely personal, yet archetypal experience?

Available now at https://www.thegamecrafter.com

Yes, and… is an inclusive brainstorming game that I designed based on best practices at USC Games. I often find that my students need practice with good brainstorming etiquette and this provides a fun and social way to do just that.

It is based on the premise that how you brainstorm is as important as what you brainstorm. Good brainstorming etiquette means using language that is inclusive and creates positive exchanges of ideas between all participants. “Yes, and…” borrows it’s name from the classic improv exercise, but takes the exercise farther, to promote positive, inclusive interplay in all types of creative brainstorming.

Players break into groups of 6-8 and deal out of the deck of “yes, and” cards. They choose a “goal card” that determines what the group will brainstorm about — these are intentionally somewhat silly or blue sky. Then the group uses the “yes, and” cards to engage in a lively, whirlwind brainstorm around the goal.

The language on the cards leads them towards a positive, inclusive experience, however there are also examples of less positive, neutral and negative language that can be used, so that player can unpack the impact of this language on their experience and on the outcome of their brainstorm.

The game is great for use in classrooms, meetings and anywhere that creative teams want to learn to work better together.

Life Underground is an interactive outreach experience for 7th and 8th grade classrooms which was produced in collaboration with the NASA Astrobiology Institute at USC. The goal of the project is to help students understand how the search for microscopic life at a range of subsurface conditions can impact our understanding of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial life. Students take the role of a young student investigating extreme subsurface environments. By allowing students to create experiments with virtual microbial life, the game reinforces their understanding of the scientific method. Ultimately, the Life Underground game’s relatable characters, engaging exploration, and sense of adventure will inspire players to explore STEM-based careers.

As the co-PI for the interactive component of the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying design so that classroom use would align with the desired learning goals. The team also included our partners at the Astrobiology Institute, middle school teachers and students.

This project and its companion curriculum are available at https://gameinnovationlab.itch.io/life-underground

California! was a new collaboration between the Game Innovation Lab and Dr. William Deverell, Chair of the USC Department of History. The goal of the project was to build a prototype of a new kind of textbook for 5th grade Common Core History. In this prototype, students meet Caleb, a 10-year-old representing what it was like to participate in the California Gold Rush. The project includes the interactive “adventures” that Caleb and his family go through on their way to and at the gold fields. There are letters home and a library of images and maps for students to explore. Of course, there are also textbook chapters, covering the Common Core standards, but the real innovation in this tablet-based project lies in the way that it brings California history to life by relating it to how 10-year-olds lived in each of the critical eras in the development of the state.

As the PI for the interactive component of the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying design so that classroom use would align with the desired learning goals. The team also included our partners at the USC History Department, middle school teachers and students. This is a seed project, and the Lab is seeking follow-on funding for the full experience.

ChronoCards is an innovative set of classroom games designed to teach critical 21st century historical thinking skills to middle school students. The games and supplementary activities that surround them are aligned to Common Core standards and dovetail neatly into 7th and 8th grade appropriate content on the causes of WWI. While designed with middle schools students in mind, many of the activities are also appropriate for high school students as well. Each of the games focuses on different historical thinking skills. The playing cards have been designed so that the games are printed on either side of a single deck, making them efficient to produce and use.

The first game, Chrono Scouts focuses on historical narrative, challenging students to build coherent narratives about the causes of WWI out of disparate historical events. The game surfaces the influence of bias and perspective in historical writing and is played by small teams of cooperating students. The game is accompanied by an online video that plays for the entire class and moderates gameplay. 

The second game, Fact Fuse, focuses on argumentation skills, prompting students to articulate the relationships between historical actors and events, and make arguments to back up their historical claims. It is played competitively between students in groups.

The games may be purchased as a professionally printed set online here, or are available for teachers to print for free use in their classrooms here. They are accompanied by a teachers guide and classroom play suggestions.

As the PI on the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying mechanics so that play would align with the desired learning goals. The team also included middle school teachers, students, and historical content experts.

The game is currently available online and has been tested in several classrooms as part of our seed grant from Microsoft Research. The Lab is completed a follow on project with funding from the NEH to develop an American Revolution version of the games, including a a prototype for an iPad version of the games.

On the Safe Side is a service project created for the USC Provost’s Office which, when completed, will was played by all incoming USC students as part of their orientation to the campus and life in Los Angeles in 2017-2018.

Adjusting to life in a mega city like Los Angeles is often difficult for students coming from out of the country or smaller towns and cities. Knowing the right safety precautions to take, and how to integrate safety with the realities of life on and off campus are at the heart of this light-hearted training game. Should you walk alone at night to the ATM or call a friend? What should you do if you witness an accident? What common kinds of campus accidents can proper attention help you avoid? Each of the levels of play introduce new challenges for the player, helping them to develop good safety awareness and strategies.

My role was working with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying design to align with the desired safety learning. The team also included partners in the Provost’s office, Campus Safety and other key departments at USC.

Reality is an underground game experience created for incoming freshmen at the School of Cinematic Arts. The game came out of the School’s Future Committee and was designed to get students working across multidisciplinary boundaries from day one of their undergraduate experience, forming proactive and reflective media making skills as well as strong social bonds.

The basic game structure is quite simple, and consists of a card-based creative prompting system and a website where student work is showcased. The experience as it unveils to the students is anything but simple, however. As students enter orientation they begin to see clues and strange symbols that prompt them to look under the surface of the school. A sense develops that there is a secret society of media makers — the Reality Committee — watching their every move. Soon, they are initiated into the game, and encouraged to “carry their cards with them at all times” so as to be ready for creative action. Players use the cards to develop prompts and then challenge themselves and others to respond to those prompts with media projects. The projects are then uploaded to the site for peer exposure and critique. 

But that is only the beginning of Reality. What happens next is what really sets the game apart. At the end of each week, the Reality Committee contacts worthy players and sends them to a mysterious meeting. Students may find themselves at the home of a famous cinematographer, on set of a television show, at a breakfast meeting with an agent, or brainstorming with a screenwriter. Where this meeting is, what it is, and who it is, is always different, but underlying each of these reward experience is invaluable mentorship.

What students learn from Reality is entirely up to them, but all of them have told us it changed their lives. The game has been played for the past four years at the School of Cinematic Arts and has become a new tradition among students.

The need for the Reality game was conceived of by the SCA Future Committee, which recognized that the school needed to move to a more integrated, DIY approach in order to prepare students for new and emerging industries. The committee brought on then PhD candidate Jeff Watson to design the game and I worked alongside him and MFA candidate, Simon Wiscombe, to create the underlying card mechanics and the connection to the School’s storied history. As a team, we led the first season of play — 15 weeks in the students’ first semester — from start to finish. Over subsequent years, I have played an advisory role in each year’s re-design and game mastering, making sure that the experience runs true to the intended spirit of play and to the learning goals, as well as remaining fresh and surprising to each new class.

The incoming freshmen classes of the School of Cinematic Arts are generally around 200 students, from each of the now six divisions. (There were five divisions when the game began, with Media, Arts & Practice added in 2014.) Since the game is voluntary and “secret” not all of the students play. However, a majority do find and play the game, producing over 100 media projects in teams ranging from 2-50. For the first two years of the game, we ran a network analysis showing the impact that the game had on social connections between players. This study, which was published at DiGRA 2013, showed a strong correlation between students that engaged with the game and increased interaction across divisional boundaries, the main goal of the project. The game has been written about by publications including Wired Magazine and ARGNet and was honored with the IndieCade “Impact” award in 2012.

FutureBound Games is a suite of college knowledge games that help kids realize their college aspirations. Like a game, the college application process is a system with rules. Mastering a game takes practice, but, for most people, the college application process is a game we only get to play once. The FutureBound Games suite strives to create playful ways to understand the systems essential to accessing higher education. FutureBound Games provide a safe environment to learn and experiment with higher education strategies and choices before it really counts.

Created in partnership with the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education Policy and Analysis, the project includes card, web and mobile games. Our mission at FutureBound Games is to develop, operate, and evaluate a suite of fun, inspiring, and educational games that will increase the number of low-income youth preparing for, applying to, and finding success in the nation’s 4-year college programs. Our suite of games is a research-based and highly innovative effort to ensure postsecondary educational opportunities for low-income high-school students.

The first game in the suite is called Application Crunch, a 3-4 player card game that makes a game out of practicing the application process. Players take on the role of a high school student and college applicant who must juggle their time between academics, extracurricular activities, work, and service while competing for college applications and scholarships. To win, players must get into college, save enough money to pay for tuition and other expenses, and build up the kind of character who can succeed in their chosen school.

The second game in the suite is a Facebook game, Mission Admission, which one incorporates online play into the application process. Level up your characters, build out your school with pride points, and get your students into the kind of colleges that will help them realize their career goals.

The third game is for middle school students. Future Bound is an aspirational game to help them gain understanding of careers and make choices that will put them on a path toward achieving their goals.

And the fourth game, Graduate Strike Force, is a game to help students understand financial strategy in their quest for higher education. More information about the games and research team can be found at the main project site.

Graduate Strike Force models the systems underlying college choice and financial decision-making. The game offers the player freedom to experiment with different potential college options and suggests that colleges can offer tradeoffs among academic reputation, cultural fit, and financial burden. Only by making good college choices and managing the team’s student debt and budget will the player succeed. The game teaches critical analytical skills at the time when it has the greatest impact on learning and retention, allowing high school students to practice, experiment, and prepare in advance for the important choice of which college to attend.

As the PI for the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying game design so that player use would align with our desired learning goals. The team also includes our partners at the Pullias Center, as well as high school teachers and students, who participated in our “junior design camp” for the project.

Graduate Strike Force has been played with high school students across Los Angeles as part of our ongoing research. Our findings show that students’ efficacy around financial aid is improved after play.

Future Bound is a game for middle school students about building career ambitions, demonstrating self-advocacy, and exhibiting passion. In this desktop and mobile game, the player takes on the role of a middle school student who is confronted by monsters representing doubts and fears. By talking to other students about her passions, the player gains career ambitions and related powers to fight against these monsters. Over the course of the game, the player explores twenty exciting career paths, collecting unique powers associated with each and using them to overcome challenges.

As the PI for the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying game design so that player use would align with our desired learning goals. The team also includes our partners at the Pullias Center, as well as middle school teachers and students, who participated in our “junior design camp” for the project.

Impact
As with our earlier games, Future Bound has been played with middle school students across Los Angeles as part of our ongoing research. Early data shows that students efficacy around college going is improved, as is vocabulary around careers and higher education.

Mission: Admission adapts the underlying game play systems found in Application Crunch to a multiplayer digital environment. The game is played on Facebook over the course of a week of real time, which puts a strong focus on real world time management. In-game deadlines occur in real time throughout the game week, driving home student learning around planning, preparing early, and meeting critical deadlines. 

As the PI for the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying game design so that player use would align with our desired learning goals. The team also includes our partners at the Pullias Center, as well as high school teachers and students, who participated in our “junior design camp” for the project.

Mission: Admission is currently the focus of a Department of Education First in the World Grant, which will provide quantitative research regarding the impact of the game. Earlier qualitative work found a strong correlation between playing two or more in-game weeks and higher levels of college going efficacy. The game has been played by more than 2300 students as part of the ongoing research.

In Application Crunch, players take on the role of a college applicant who needs to balance academics and extracurricular activities as she applies to colleges and scholarships. To win, the player must get into college, save enough money to pay for tuition and other expenses, and build up the kind of character who can succeed in her chosen school. Application Crunch focuses on critical lessons of time management and application building.

As the PI for the project, I worked with a team of game designers at the lab to develop and iterate the underlying game design so that player use would align with our desired learning goals. The team also includes our partners at the Pullias Center, as well as high school teachers and students, who participated in our “junior design camp” for the project.

Application Crunch has been used by more than 3000 students across the U.S. and is found to produce higher efficacy around college-going in players after two or more sessions. The game was also favorably reviewed by several commercial board game sites and was a finalist at IndieCade 2011 for the Impact Award.

The Center for Advanced Technology in Schools is a project in collaboration with UCLA CRESST to create pre-algebra games with embedded assessment methods. The game lab team created three casual games addressing the topics of rational numbers numbers and equations. The mechanics and level design of these games were integrated with core curriculum around these topics.

For example, “Tlaloc’s Book” is a puzzle platforming game in which players collect whole numbers, fractions, and mathematical operators, which they use to perform operations on platforms to change the platforms’ heights. “Zooples” is an action puzzle in which players must balance the wings of an alien spaceship by solving equations. And “Puppetman” is another casual puzzle game in which players use their knowledge of rational numbers to successfully trampoline their puppet across pits of fearsome lava.

During the design process for these games the team tested prototypes with grade schoolers, to make sure that the game was challenging and fun for the target audience. The game lab team worked with education theorists and designers to ensure that the game accurately implemented recent theories of learning.

Participation Nation is a prototype for an innovative cross-media learning environment focused on U.S. Constitutional history and civics. Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s History and Civics Initiative, Participation Nation was a collaboration between the Game Innovation Lab, KCET, Activision-Blizzard, and a multi-disciplinary development team including educators, historians, artists, designers, programmers.

The prototype focuses on the constitutional crisis surrounding school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. A set of webisodes and a graphic novel provide the background story of this crisis, while the central “Debate Game” asks players to use the people, laws and values from the era to support two out of three points of the argument for or against school integration, addressing questions like “Should the federal government intervene?”, “Is media coverage swaying public opinion?”, and “Are civil rights worth risking a constitutional crisis?” Players can take the side of the “Forces of Change” or the “Status Quo” in debate over the constitutional issues that shaped the country.

Players can also access an array of primary source materials including historic documents, newspaper articles, and archival footage to give their arguments in the game extra power. As in history, there is no right or wrong answer, but rather a play is evaluated on it’s relevancy to each argument.

Cloud is a phenomenally successful student research project from the Game Innovation Lab. More than 1,000,000 people have downloaded this game from www.thatcloudgame.com. As faculty advisor for this project, I helped guide an extremely talented cross-disciplinary team over the course of this experimental production.

Cloud combines a uniquely relaxing game mechanic with a moody, surreal environment. The player is Yun, the “cloud boy,” who can soar through the sky gathering and shaping the clouds. Clouds are dark or light, and as Yun makes his way, he must purify the dark clouds he finds by surrounding them with light clouds.

Through out the game, the player, as Yun, learns how to navigate the world, how to collect clouds and create shapes out of them, how to use clouds to create various types of weather patterns and eventually how to confront and defeat the dark clouds that have invaded the sky.

Cloud uses particle simulation to simulate a puffy, fluid feel for its cloud world. Using attraction and repulsing force, the clouds in the game are like digital clay. The intention of the project is to create an emotional game experience that resonates with players’ youthful memories and fantasies about playing in the clouds.

Cloud was a student winner in the 2006 Independent Game Festival at the Game Developers Conference, as well as the winner of the Student Philosophy Award at the 2006 Slamdance Guerilla Game Maker Contest. It was featured in the 5th Annual Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the 2006 Game Developers Conference.

Space Race is one of a new breed of theme park attractions — an interactive, multiplayer game that challenges players to take on the roles of space shuttle pilots and mission controllers.

A post-show for the popular Mission: SPACE attraction at EPCOT Center Disney World Florida, Space Race combines simple to learn puzzles with fast-paced team play as guests try to solve navigation, life support, propulsion and various other themed challenges in order to keep their spacecraft racing through the galaxy.

As a puzzle designer for the game, I provided concepts for simple, touch-based visual problems that were accessible for guests of all ages and skill levels. Once each puzzle is completed, guests “transmit” their answers to the “astronauts” for use on their team’s shuttle.

Launched in 2003, this post-show is one of the only non-ride attractions to have its own “fast pass” in order to accommodate visitor demand.

Weakest Link Interactive was an Emmy-nominated iTV game that allowed home viewers to play along with the hit game show.

As the president and creative director for Spiderdance, I designed the user interface and online game mechanics, produced the upgrade to the back end technology, and negotiated the business deal with NBC to bring the game to life.

Weakest Link, which aired during NBC prime-time, drew the largest two-screen iTV audiences of any Spiderdance application to date when it launched in the fall of 2001.

The sardonic humor and playfully degrading tone of the broadcast show were faithfully translated to the online game with it’s sarcastic feedback and criticism of players regarding their performance.

In 2002, when the first Emmy awards for Interactive Television were announced, Weakest Link Interactive became one of the first iTV programs nominated for this honor in the history of the Television Academy. The project was also the winner of a 2001 Bandies award.0

No Boundaries was the first team-based interactive television program to be developed. Online players followed television contestants in a virtual trek to the Arctic Circle.

As the president and creative director for Spiderdance, I designed the underlying game mechanics, produced the development of the game, and put together the unique three-party production deal with The WB, J Walter Thompson and Lions Gate. This deal involved integrated sponsorship by Ford Motor Company in both the on-air and online games.

At home players could create their own private or public teams and follow along with the on-air show with their teammates. As the on-air contestants made their way through the Arctic wilderness on an extreme journey, testing both mind and body, so too did each online team work its way across a virtual map, managing resources and testing their survival knowledge and leadership skills.

The show aired on The WB in the United States and on Global in Canada in March of 2002.

Cyber Bond was an iTV game created to play alongside the “15 Days of Bond” Marathon on TBS.

As the president of Spiderdance, which developed the game, I executive produced the design and production of the company’s fourth sync-to-broadcast game, created for TBS.

The game featured a Clue-like mystery game called “Infiltration” in addition to Bond trivia and in-game chat. Players could see their high scores inserted into the TV broadcast live.

When Cyber Bond aired in September of 2000, it increased viewer retention over the course of the marathon by 300 percent.

History IQ was an iTV game that allowed home viewers to play along with with this difficult History trivia game show from the History Channel.

As the president of Spiderdance, I executive produced the design and production of the company’s third sync-to-broadcast game.

The game featured an interactive timeline in addition to trivia questions and a “Today in History” moment. At home player’s saw their high scores on television, inserted live during each broadcast.

Inquizition Interactive was an iTV game that allowed home viewers to play along with this cult game show in which four on-air contestants are challenged by the cruel, faceless “Inquizitor.”

As the president of Spiderdance, I executive produced the design and production of the company’s second sync-to-broadcast game, created for Sony’s Game Show Network.

The game featured 24-hour practice play as well as games synced to the television broadcasts. At home player’s saw their high scores on television, inserted live during each broadcast.

Inquizition Interactive was the winner of the The Bandies 2000 award for Best Enhanced TV Implementation.

webRIOT was the first interactive television game to synchronize online and television experiences precisely — within 1/10th of a second, to be exact. This stylish, award-winning game was played by over 1,000,000 MTV viewers when it launched in 1999. Hosted by Ahmet Zappa, webRIOT allowed MTV viewers to compete against four in-studio contestants in a battle of music trivia knowledge.

The proprietary “sync to broadcast” technology that made webRIOT possible was developed by my company Spiderdance, based on an original idea conceived by me and Mike Gresh, CTO of Spiderdance. Having designed the first multiplayer casual game, NetWits, for Microsoft, Mike and I were interested in further exploring the possibility of larger-scale social games made possible by the size of television audiences.

The Spiderdance technology was a natural outgrowth of our experiences with NetWits for MSN, as well as my work on Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune Online for Sony. Our concept was to build a reliable online technology that would allow responsive, real-time interaction with both television content and with other players.

Because of the need for tight security measures, the webRIOT client application was built in C++. Later versions were ported to Shockwave, once advancements in that platform´s messaging protocols made secure communications with the Spiderdance servers possible.

At launch, webRIOT introduced a brand new concept to the fledgling interactive television industry — two-screen interactivity. Since that time, numerous other companies have turned to this method of iTV distribution because of its vastly larger audience reach than single-screen technologies here in the United States.

webRIOT has been honored with multiple awards, including the IBC’s Nombre d’Or Silver Rembrandt Award for Best Convergent Format, the Digital Coast 2000 Award for Excellence in Digital Entertainment, the iMIX v2.0 Award Best in Show and the INVISION 2000 Gold Award for Web Entertainment Games.

Jeopardy! Online was a multiplayer version of the classic game show that, at its launch in 1998, became, along with Wheel of Fortune Online, one of the most popular casual games on the web.

As R/GA Interactive’s creative director and producer on the project, I worked with designer Vincent LaCava and the project team from Sony Online to re-think the the look and feel of the show for a younger, hipper, online audience. A fresh color palette, wacky player characters with “avatude” and a dynamic Java-based interface were all part of the appeal.

Jeopardy! Online was awarded a Silver New Media Invision Award, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Best Family/Board Game of 1999 and WebAwards Outstanding Website of 1999 by the Web Marketing Association.

Wheel of Fortune Online was a multiplayer version of the broadcast game show, which was produced alongside Jeopardy! Online to become one of the most popular casual games on the web.

As R/GA Interactive´s creative director and producer on the project, I worked with designer Vincent LaCava and the project team from Sony Online to create a fresh, retro look and feel for the classic gameshow. Quirky player characters with “avatude” and a dynamic Java-based interface brought the game to life.

Wheel of Fortune Online was awarded a Silver New Media Invision Award, design distinction in ID Magazine Interactive Design Review of 1999, and and WebAwards Outstanding Website of 1999 by the Web Marketing Association.

NetWits was the first multiplayer casual game released on the web. Developed for Windows95 and the Microsoft Network, NetWits shipped to millions of MSN users in the Fall of 1996.

As the game designer and creative director of NetWits, I conceived the original idea of an online gameshow that would be “broadcast” to thousands of players simultaneously, bringing them together in easy-to-learn social games where they could chat, interact and compete for fun and prizes.

The host of NetWits was the ineffable Vic Marvelous, an original character designed to give the feeling of a classic game show host and animated with traditional hand-drawn cels converted to digital assets. Vic led players through each round of play, giving verbal feedback and and a helping hand with the interface.

Each night of the week, contestants could log on to the Microsoft Network and play a different NetWits game: Crosswords was a multiplayer word jumble; Push Your Luck was a fast-paced maze game; Switcheroo was a social riddler; I Challenge That was a dueling card game; and Top of the Mark was a slippery strategy game.

As one of the first web products to feature in-game sponsorship, NetWits broke ground in terms of online business models. Sponsored by Expedia during its first season, nightly prizes included a round trip ticket anywhere in the U.S. from the online travel agency.

When it was released, NetWits received immediate critical acclaim, not only for it’s stylish retro look and sound and classically elegant gameplay, but also for it’s cutting edge technology. The game featured a rich, responsive interface in a time before the availability of Shockwave or Flash. In fact, the team spend over a year developing one of the earliest massively multiplayer server systems and a custom client solution with graphics that went far beyond what the web had previously supported.

NetWits garnered a number of honors and awards, including design distinction in the ID Magazine Design Review, the Communication Arts Annual Review and “Best of the Web” from Time Magazine in 1996.

Ride for Your Life was a “cinematic game” starring Adam West, Betty Buckley and Matthew Lillard. This early experiment into the intersection between film, games and interactive narrative was released in 47 theaters nationwide in 1995.

As creative director for Interfilm and writer/co-director of Ride for Your Life, I was part of a team of technologists and creative inventors who developed the proprietary hardware and software system for this project and several other Interfilm features.

Unlike earlier Interfilm projects, which were branching film experiences, Ride for Your Life was designed to be played like a large, social videogame in a riotous theater audience. The comic book story was a tongue-in-cheek tale of aliens, government agents and bike messengers. When the story begins, the fate of the earth hangs on the outcome of a bicycle race.

Viewers were able to make game choices using a three-button controller installed on the arm of their theater seat. Choices were reflected instantaneously on-screen in film sequences that were as fast as 10-seconds apart as the audience steers the messengers through the twists and turns of downtown Manhattan via bicycle.

The final sequence of the game is a flat-out race through Central Park which could end up in a resounding victory for the audience, or it could end up in an alien invasion of the earth … it’s up to you.