The Go Game

Street Food Scavenger hunt at SXSW (Ian)

3/3/2010 4:05:54 PM

IF you're heading to SXSW, peep this!!! Sounds like fun.
Check it

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Amazing Talk by Jesse Schell (Ian)

2/23/2010 2:02:18 PM

PS3 Games - E3 2010 - Guitar Hero 5

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Scavenger hunt for Loopt (Ian)

1/7/2010 4:30:38 PM

Late this fall we were charged with creating a fun, easy-to-use scavenger hunt to be run entirely on the Loopt Platform. Loopt is fun, functional 'Social Mapping' service that lets you know where your friends are at any given moment. It also aims to educate its users about goings-on in various neighborhoods. It's like Gowalla and Foursquare (without the scoring/points), and many consider it the most robust location-based social networking tool out there. We were obviously more than happy to help them inject some game-play into their service in the form of 3 large city-wide, holiday-themed scavenger hunts. They went down in LA, NYC and SF during Dec. and Jan,and the whole bi-coastal shin-dig bore the name: Holiday from the Holidays.

Designing the game was a significant challenge as we couldn't use our trusty Go Game web app called MazeMaker, which allows players to enter answers which are verified and scored online. What we came up with was a game design that used Loopt to drive players to actors or 'Plants' sprinkled liberally throughout the gamezone. The solutions to the location-based puzzles resulted in phone numbers which represented new friends that the players would add. They would then go find these new friends, do some crazy interactions and earn drink tickets to be redeemed at the final party. Each actor represented a different holiday (Frida Kahlo for Cinco de Mayo, a giant Turkey for T-giving, etc), and they were simply AWESOME. Ultimately the games led everyone back to an ending venue where the beer did flow and men chundered.

What proved to be the MOST challenging hurdles were things that, to date, we've found no technical work-around for: Massive Storms! The first game in LA corresponded (to the minute) with THIS particular doozy of a storm . Understandably, attendance was well fell short of the 500 people who'd signed up (but Angelinos are known to melt in rain so we'll give them a pass). Not to worry, though, because a mere week away lay the NYC version of the Game. Finn jetted east to administer this game to the hardy New Yorkers who certainly wouldn't be deterred by a little rain. It turned out that, again -- to the minute, the game collided with what shall most likely be known as #FREAKINGSNOWPOCALYPSE2009-OMG-WEREALLGONNADIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turns out that many of the players who'd signed up opted for PJs and hot cocoa over a city-wide scavenger hunt. Or, they just wanted to make snow angels and not listen to odd directions from a phone.

Once we made a ritual sacrifice of a half a dozen iPhones, the rainclouds cleared and the tables were set for the 3rd and final game in our hometown of SF. Several hundred players braved the partly-cloudy skies and 62-degree weather and our game-design was finally put to the test. It worked like a charm!!! One particular gps watch-wearing super geek called it 'The funnest urban event I've ever participated in!!!' He sent us this little track of his day.

It was gratifying to finally see the game in action, being played by tons of people and, of course, being well-received. We put a ton of work into these games. It was a good exercise in design for us as we tend to use our one web tool exclusively. Location-based gaming seems like it's here to stay, and whomever can make the stickiest game will win the most tumb-balls. Right now Foursquare (and Gowalla) are rocking it because, imho, they're fun, easy and pretty addictive. Bottom line: they are games, and people love to play. We'd love to bring a little more of The Go Game's interactivity to these game platforms, wherein players can run/hide/tag/hi5 and otherwise get silly with one another (in the flesh), all in the name of amassing points or reputation, without being too stalker-y. We'll get on that project next week (after we sew a new turkey suit).

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Sims3 Marketing Game -- Sim to Win (Ian)

12/9/2009 12:19:42 PM

Over the month of November we created and ran a nation-wide, college campus-based promotional game for the launch of Electronic Arts' Sims3 Expansion pack, called Sim to Win. We were fortunate enough to work again with an energetic and trusting marketing team from Electronic Arts, led by the lovely Summer Bradley.

20 universities fielded a grand total of 412 teams, who jostled for position over several weeks, staging CRAZY creative video missions, sleuthing for online clues, and generally procrastinating on the mid-term front. The relatively small teams (mostly1-3 players) actively completed missions for 2 weeks, and followed that up with 2 additional weeks of online voting that kept the scores fluctuating. Teams shared links to their missions via Facebook and Twitter -- to the tune of over 25,000 votes cast. In the end, 20 lucky collegians claimed their rightful spoils -- shiny new laptops!

Our writers came up with top-notch Sims3-related mission content, and used a host of on-line tools (Google Earth, Streetview, Facebook, Twitter, etc) to enhance the overall web scavenger hunt experience. As with any product we create, there was a health dose of real-life play, and that's where the wheat got separated from the chaff, talent-wise. One submission we really like was this:

The challenge below asked teams to create their own Sims avatar, but give the game controller to their disgruntled ex-bf/gf.

Sim to Win was a success on many fronts. It delivered numbers/eyeballs/impressions to the tune of:

50K pageviews
27K votes
Average of 2.5 minutes spent on the 'best of' gallery

The goal of the game was to drum up excitement about Sims3 and to encourage active Sims devotees and non-gamers alike to experience and revel in Sims3. We got a nice mix of hardcore Simmers and newbies and we're quite certain the game gave a fresh perspective on a first-person pc game. The game content was shared far past the 1,000 or so players, and what got communicated was pretty simple: people having a ton of fun with a game about a game.

The game engine that Finn built worked like a Swiss watch. Alli, Ian W and yours truly spent untold hours creating fake Facebook profiles, scouring photos of campuses and concocting hugely entertaining challenges that the teams digested at a 67% success rate.

For any ongoing game (longer than a few hours) you run the risk of disincentivizing (if that is indeed a word) the late-comers. When you see that you're already 500 points behind, you're more likely to click away. With this in mind, we designed the game so that 'late' teams could complete all the prior missions retroactively. This helped a lot with retention over the course of the 2 weeks.

Participating schools were:

University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of Colorado
University of Connecticut
University of Florida
Florida State University
University of Georgia
University of Iowa
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Maryland
Michigan State
University of Nebraska
University of Oklahoma
Penn State
Purdue University
Syracuse University
UNC
Utah
Virginia Tech

Don't you want to know which school was the most creative/smartest? Maybe it's something they put in the swampwater, or the rubbing-of-elbows with all the national champion athletes, but in our humble opinion, the University of Florida earned the distinction of OVERALL-SCHOOL-THAT-ROCKED-OUR-WORLD-THE-MOST.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this game a big success!

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A Blog About A Blog! (Michelle)

12/4/2009 11:53:38 AM

Check it out! We've been blogged about!

In city where we travel, we hire local actors to plant in our games. Just last week, we ran an awesome Undercover Game at the Mall of America, and one of our actors was the charming Michael Venske. Unbeknownst to us, he blogged about us after the game! Here's what he said!

...an open letter to corporate america

Dear Head Honchos:

Are you looking for a way to bring unity and increased performance to a group of your employees that may be fearful about their employment due to America�s tough economic state? Do you want more options for �corporate entertainment� than just an afternoon of skits in the boardroom making fun of Bob from accounting? Do you want to get involved and be apart of your team again?

If you answered �yes� to ANY of the questions above, then The Go Game is your alternative to corporate entertainment that won�t just waste an hour after lunch!

As an actor, I�ve worked with The Go Game on missions for Target and Best Buy. In addiction to character work (acting), part of my job is to ensure all members of the team are participating. Using my skills as an educator and improviser, I�m able to quickly note which team members aren�t participating, get them involved immediately, and continue to unite your employees as being members of the same team.

The best part of The Go Game, in addition to genuinely bringing you and your employees together, is that the game�s entertaining, educational, and fun! You�re winning in multiple ways with The Go Game!

Sincerely,

Michael Venske
http://michaelvenske.com/blog/?p=677

Thanks Michael!!

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Sweet Creativity Training! (Michelle)

10/29/2009 4:21:59 PM

This week The Go Game went to beautiful Boulder, CO to run a creativity training for the first-year attorneys at a large, international law firm. Led by Michelle (Game Producer) and Lisa (Improvisation Guru), we spent the day making movies, doing improvisation exercises and discussing how to take the creative process back to the law firm to create a more successful and supportive work environment.

We divided everyone into teams, which were comprised of the learning groups that these first-year lawyers will work intimately with over the next year. At the end of the day, we were thrilled to hear that our Creativity Training really helped the players develop stronger relationships with their team members and coworkers. In our final debrief, one guy said:

�It�s amazing how often these �team building� activities just show you how un-trustworthy your coworkers are. You know, you do a trust fall and no one catches you� that sort of thing. But I actually feel much closer to my coworkers after today! I feel confident that we can trust each other and will support each other this year. This was definitely the best team building I�ve ever done!

You can see just how close the teams became with this eloquently-written love note written from one team to another�

In all seriousness though, the training was an amazing event, and it was really fulfilling to see the players so engaged in learning about themselves and their teams. It seems that we helped them create a work environment that will contribute greatly to their success in their first year at the firm.

Here�s what our client said about the game�

"Hi Michelle,
Thank you (and Lisa) for running a very successful program� the associates certainly had some fun videos and good learning that came out of the process. I think the combination of improv and videos made the program engaging and the afternoon flew by.
I hope to work with you and Lisa again in the future."

Creativity Rocks!

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PICNIC - Best. Conference. Ever. (chris)

10/15/2009 7:02:09 AM

***Cross-posted from The Go Game UK blog***

The Go Game has done quite a few conferences in our time. There was the 3200 person extravaganza in Dallas and the crazy 72-hour free for all at SXSWi this past March. But no conference we've been a part of compares to PICNIC, held just a few weeks ago in Amsterdam.

The organisers of PICNIC have tagged the event as 'Not Your Ordinary Picnic,' which is true, but doesn't give you the full scope of the event. In reality it's not your ordinary ANYTHING. PICNIC is a mash up of the finest tech and design minds in Europe that produced spectacular results. Life size Etch-A-Sketch? Check. RFID tags and games? Check. A DJ? Check. A twitter tree? Check. Free coffee? Check.

The conference took place at the Westergasfabriek, a converted gasworks on the edge of downtown Amsterdam. The hub of activity for the event was the Picnic Club which you can tour in 360 degrees to get a full scope of the crazy things going on.

We played The Go Game in the Picnic Club and integrated things like the Etch-a-Sketch and make your own collaborative music video booth into the game. Of course there were ample opportunities for teams to explore PICNIC's dining options and interact with the local wildlife:

If you are in the tech, arts, design or interactivity sector here in the UK or Europe I hope to see you at PICNIC 2010. For now, we recommend viewing the PICNIC Flickr photostream below:

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Community Game! (Michelle)

10/1/2009 2:07:37 PM

Last weekend was our Community Game in the Mission, benefiting Intersection for the Arts!

Here's what players said about it...

"My best San Francisco moment to date. I can't stop raving about how much fun I had. Seriously, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do more community games, I know plenty of people who would gladly pay to play!" -Sha Nguyen

"I've already told everybody I know that they should experience Go Game, either personally as a community event or as a corporate team building experience. I LOVE LOVE LOVED it!!" -Audrey Fisher

If you missed it, we feel so bad for you that we�re going to recreate the day in photos right here on our blog. So sit back, scroll down, and watch the magic unfold�

The game was an ultimate battle between Mission hipsters:

(Note that this girl was not �in on the game�, but a team got her to wear a Go Game tattoo anyway!)

And Marina Preppies:

(Note that these people *may* have been �in on the game.� And yes, they�re real.)

There were Superhero sightings:

And jump rope contests with strangers:

We began new relationships:

And may have ended old ones:

(Awkward.)

PLUS we raised over five-hundred bucks for these guys!

(Aka. Intersection for the Arts)

And I�ll leave you with this, because 1) It�s AMAZING, and 2) It was absolutely not related to any of the missions in the game. But one thing is certain: if you play The Go Game you can be as cool as this guy.

Our next Community Game is Saturday, November 14th, so check back for more info! You don�t want to miss it!

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Go Game's New Phones (Ian)

9/18/2009 12:33:47 PM

Hold the phone -- we're getting new phones! Get a load of THESE beauties!

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Games are fun (Andrew)

8/20/2009 10:32:02 AM

We here at The Go Game like to consider ourselves connoisseurs of fun, games, and awesome. Throw in a dose of cute, and we're talking:

What's going on here? We've got a real life game of Candyland played on Lombard Street here in San Francisco. Unfettered joy is a beautiful thing, is it not? When was the last time you felt like you were skipping down Lombard on a huge Candyland board?

Perhaps you need a Go Game ...? Or maybe you just need to read a super cute Chronicle article about kids playing an awesome game of Candyland.

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REALLY in the news (Andrew)

8/18/2009 1:47:11 PM

ZOMG! We're totally in the news, and missed it! We know we already announced the street food game, but turns out we made the examiner for our awesome gaming!

READ ALL ABOUT HOW COOL WE ARE! note: NSOAES (not safe on an empty stomach)

And of course, if you're interested in getting in on it or want to see some awesome photos, check us out here!

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In the news! (Andrew)

8/12/2009 2:22:44 PM

We're totally in the news! Although, perhaps not exactly what we'd WANT to be in the news for, but as they say - any press is good press.

Guess which one is our garage? We'd tell you but we know our rabid fans would stalk us down. Instead, you'll just have to imagine.

NOTE: No, we did not paint any of these. Even by our lax HR standards, few of these are, as the kids say these days, "SFW"

Here's a sample (not our garage) so you don't have to work to hard to see some fresh art:

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Start Playing With Your Food! (Melanie)

7/28/2009 2:47:31 PM

So you might have heard from a little bird that there's a wacky new game in the works from the minds that have brought you a bazillion Go Games AND the tasty treats of La Cocina.

Well, you heard right you little twinkies! We proudly present the first ever Go Game Street Food Adventure. ZOMG! I don't even know that that acronym stands for, but it feels so appropriate for how excited I am. Which is incredibly so. Excited, that is. Hmmm. Not making sense because of the intense excitement. Keep reading!

Here's how it's going to work - Step one,: cut a hole in the box. Step two: you put your j- wait, that's a different kind of game. First, you sign yourself up here. Pick a team name, and make it good, because we will be judging you on it later. And 'lopchong fudgsicle buttah stew' is already taken, sorry!

Then, on Monday, August 3rd, you and your team will get an email with a link to the actual game. Log in with your team name and password on either a cell phone or computer and prepare for some seriously challenging missions that you can do right in your home at any time - it does not HAVE to be on Monday. You don't have to be together (you can be online, on the phone, or on a horse - if you're really good), but we think it's more fun if you are. Pop a bottle of wine and bring that stuffed mushroom recipe you've been dying to make and get thinking!

Once you have successfully solved the at-home missions, you will be led to an actual location on a specific day to complete one of many challenges. When you are on-location (markets, street food stands and festivals are some of the types of places you will find yourself) you should feel free to play at your leisure and once you are finished with your missions - stay! Hang around! Explore! Like me - exploring some fancy fruits in The Mission.

Get your mind out of the gutter - that was a produce mission!

Each Monday, you will be able to access a new series of clues that will lead you to a new destination each weekend. And the clues are good for the duration of the game, so we won't be mad if you have already arranged a wine tasting menu in Napa with the 'rents, as long as you bring us back a lil' somethin' somethin'. You can pick up where you left off when you get back. And yes - I WAS implying that we accept bribes.

Some missions require text answers or passwords that you enter directly into the game for pointage. Sometimes we will ask you for a picture or new idea and you will post those to a forum (link provided later on) and we will judge them based on comments from other teams and basically anyone who wants to tell us what they think of you. But if they post mean things, we'll blacklist them AND tell their moms.

There will also be a bank of ongoing missions that you can do whenever you darn well feel like it. Street food vendors to track down that will have special goods in their carts for players, alley ways with messages to decipher, clues at the bottom of ice cream cones - you know, the usual.

The game will come to an unbeleivable climax at La Cocina's very own, very awesome and very yummy San Francisco Street Food Festival 2009. It's gonna be like a street vendor carnival of delights. There will be missions during the festival and we will announce the winners towards the end of the day.

If you're confused, it's OK. I get confused all the time, too. Especially when reading really important non-fiction, like The Omnivore's Dilemma and Twilight. Once the game gets going, it's pretty easy to figure out how play works - it's not as easy to decode our missions!

So tell your friends, family and Johnny Depp if you can get him on the phone, becase we want to see all of you guys playing and eating all over SF this August. Especially Johnny. Wheeeee!

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How Low Can You Go? (Melanie)

6/23/2009 5:29:10 PM

At approximately 4:45 PM on Tuesday, June 23rd an important meeting was held in Go Game Headquarters. Melanie Duve, Zach Chin and Alli Ball had a meeting of minds in which they determined who was in fact the employee with the most poise, balance and grace. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, it was time for some AFTERNOON JENGA!

Not your typical Jenga set, this particular edition was supplied by one of our most delightful clients of late and came color coordinated and with a set of dice - two improvements that actually led to a fun game. Also adding to the fun was the fact that we kept singing the 'Limbo Rock' song. Which Zach admitted to currently having on his iPod. Actually, now that I think about it, he does go to a lot of weddings where that might come in handy.

Anyway, here are some pictures of how much fun this was:

That's Alli (AKA TowerPlaya) winding up her patented power roll. You should see her play Yahtzee.

That's Zach (AKA HighTower), trying to stack some blocks after a crushing roll of the Jenga dice.

That's me (AKA TowerOfPower). Look how much fun I'm having. My whole face is squished into happiness.

We had so much fun that I think we should make a movie out of it. We'll call it 'Well Stacked' and this will be the poster:

And even though we didn't catch it on film, Zach lost this game. Because his KNEE hit the table during Alli's turn. Which kinda makes me the champion. Nice. I didn't think about that until now. I'm a winner. Wheee!

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Lost Luggage? (Zach)

6/19/2009 2:47:54 PM

Unless you were cryogenically frozen for the past few decades you�ve probably heard stories of airlines losing luggage. It happens all the time, in fact by a quick google search the only statistic I could find was from 2007 that said, "One in every 138 checked bags went missing during the first nine months of this year." The airlines say that this number is really not that bad, because over 99% of the luggage gets to its destination. If you look at the numbers then it doesn�t seem so bad, but I want to visualize this a little differently. Let�s take one of the most popular commercial flight planes out there, the Boeing 737. Depending on the model of the plane, it can hold anywhere from 128 to 215 passengers. Let�s guess that on average 1 bag is checked per person. That means the airlines lose about 1 bag per flight. To me that doesn't seem cool.

By this statistic my family must be very lucky with our luggage this year, in the past 4 months we�ve had 2 bags lost out of the 4 flights people in my family took. We�re either really lucky or maybe those lost baggage numbers are higher than the numbers I�ve found. One of the things that was lost was a stroller that was checked at the gate of the plane. How does a stroller not get on the plane when you walk it all the way up to the plane itself? What's wrong with these airlines?

Anyways, I just recently found a site (www.isthisyourluggage.com) where the owner of the site collects lost luggage, photographs the contents and tries to find the owner. This is what the site says about how they get the luggage:

"When a bag gets lost the airport or airline will store it for a while and try to find the owner. If they can�t identify the owner of the case they send it to be auctioned off with the profit going to charity. I go to these auctions and buy the cases so I can photograph them for my weird voyeuristic passion. The reason for the web site? I would really like to try to find the people who own my suitcases, so if you have any friends who have lost a case people get them to have a look."

Interesting, neat, possibly creepy, but cool.

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