Monday, 1 February 2010

The Three Houses

an alternate reality game for two players

The Three Houses is a highly immersive game designed for two players. It was played once in the winter of 2007. Developers and puppet masters included Michael Dory, Leah Gilliam, Kate Hartman, Adam Parrish, Ruth Sergel, Adam Simon, Daniel Soltis, Scott Varland, and Kyveli Vezani.

The game took place over a weekend in the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side. Through solving verbal and physical puzzles and searching for hidden items, players uncovered aspects of their own and New York's history and decided how to respond to the developing story. Game elements included communication via email, phone, and letter; physical artifacts (including flowers and magic boxes); and live performance.

map of  play area playing the  three houses

In addition to presenting a story, the game moved players through different relationships with each other and with the game itself. The players were initially led to believe that they were playing alone, and then that they were playing in opposition to each other. By talking outside of the clearly defined game activities, the players forged an alliance and ultimately abandoned the puppet masters' instructions (and supervision) and sought the game's conclusion together.

artifacts from the three houses artifact  from the three houses

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