We Throw Switches, a creative studio specialising in creating interactive games for social spaces, present one of their latest works at Now Play This. Formed of a large table with ten in-built neon light-up surfaces, players must work together in this ultimate reaction test, pressing the panels which light up as quickly as possible as they increase in speed.
Wrong Box, a collaboration between new media artist and internet personality Molly Soda and indie game maker Aquma, invites players to explore the forgotten online worlds of the noughties, from glitter graphics and empty chat rooms to pop-up ads and virtual pets.
Since its launch in 2006, the online game Tale of Tales’ The Endless Forest has formed a dedicated community of players and followers, who come together to feed its evolution through forums and suggestions with the developers to create a ‘living universe’. Set in a peaceful enchanted forest, each player adopts the form of a deer which can only interact and communicate with other players through sounds and body language. Presented on a mounted screen, visitors can wander the idyllic setting, as well as engage with several activities, which range from picking flowers to shapeshifting.
OUTDOOR GAMES
Two free outdoor games take place on site for 2019, open to all visitors of Somerset House. Staged across the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, and produced especially for Now Play This, is New-York based games designer and conceptual artist Zach Gage’s ‘Labyrinth’. Gage leads visitors around the courtyard in a circular trail which leads to a central core, inspired by the systems of both winding church pathways and airport queues, which invites feelings of tranquillity juxtaposed with physical order and structure.
Interactive designer Viviane Schwarz and game designer Kevan Davis will lead visitors on an adventurous trail around Somerset House in an exciting newly commissioned work.
