Tentacles 1.0
Michael Longford (Canadian, born 1960)
of Mobile Media Lab (est. 2007)
York University (Canada, est. 1959)
Geoffrey Shea (Canadian, born 1958)
of Mobile Experience Lab (est. 2006)
Ontario College of Art and Design
(Canada, est. 1876)
Rob King (Canadian, born 1982)
of Canadian Film Centre Media Lab
(Canada, est. 1997)
2009
Objective-C and Processing software
Tentacles is a multiplayer game designed
to be played in a public space on a giant
screen that displays players’ locations
via iPhone or iPod touch. Players begin
the game in the dark at the bottom of the
ocean, each controlling a squid-like form
evolving out of the primordial ooze and
hunting for life-sustaining microorganisms
called tenticules. As each creature eats,
it grows and is confronted with other
growing creatures, representing other
players, that can steal its tenticules and
deprive it of nutrients. Players must make
a choice, the designers say, to “‘share’
or ‘scare’”—to decide if they are out for
themselves or willing to be part of the
larger whole, making for a dynamic and
philosophical public game.
Category: Bodies
Tags: Interactions / Networks / Mutants and Fairy Tales / Liminal Spaces
