8 minute read
Games
Zootropia, a wonderful journey through the history of film magic
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Zoötropia, Een wonderlijke reis door de geschiedenis van film magie
In Zootropia, participants get to know the history of special effects and enter the wonderful world of all kinds of film tricks, such as green screen techniques and models, as well as exploring digital film effects like motion tracking and face tracking. In a collaboration between six European children’s film festivals, each country chose a film that is used in the workshop. One scene was then selected from each film to act as a source of inspiration for the six scenes in the installation.
Nou&Herkauw and Hotmamahot were asked by Cinekid to come up with this installation. Nou&Herkauw is a Groningen-based studio that develops games, interactive installations and workshops, particularly for children. Their work straddles the boundary between the real and virtual worlds by mixing hands-on craft techniques with computer technology. Hotmamahot is a creative collective active in art education in Amsterdam for 15 years now.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
The latest game from the British award-winning studio Ustwo Games counterweighs the ubiquitous games full of death and destruction. In Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, they teach the player how beautiful nature is, and how important it is to preserve it. It is a relaxing, sweet adventure with a sunny vibe, but with an underlying crucial message: everybody, children too, can contribute to nature conservation with their action(s). The player joins Alba on a visit to her grandparents on a sun-drenched island. She is all set for a relaxed summer full of discoveries in the countryside. The whole island is ready to be discovered, from idyllic beaches to an old castle. Alba photographs and documents the animals she encounters. It is a true Mediterranean paradise. If you ignore the waste, that is. And when she sees an animal in need, she has to take action!
Along with her grandfather, an avid bird-watcher, the positive, energetic Alba inspires others to take responsibility. She makes sure the islanders join a movement to save the island. And, who knows, perhaps even the world.
CINEKID, NOU&HERKAUW
THE NETHERLANDS | 2021 | 7+
FACTS
Producer Nou&Herkauw, HotMamaHot A collaboration for European Children’s Film Festival Network (ECFFN) between Cinekid (NL), JEF (BE), Kids Kino (PO), Olympia (GR), Schlingel (GE) and Zlin (CH) With the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union
USTWO GAMES
UNITED KINGDOM | 2021 | 6+
Codex Bash Deep
Playing games together in teams happens more and more these days. But games that can physically be played together are still special. Codex Bash is one case in point. It is a socially engaging affair; you have to help each other. You could see the game as a physical environment mixed with gaming, like a kind of mega-fast escape room.
In Codex Bash, a computer virus must be stopped before it affects everything. At the heart of this mix of physical movement, teamwork, communication and problem-solving are codes that must be cracked and four buttons that have to be pushed quickly in a specific order. The code gets harder and harder to crack, and soon the players have to analyse diagrams, figure out charts or perform key combinations to find out what the codes are. One thing is for sure: The best code crackers work together as a team. Breathe in… Breathe out… In the VR experience Deep, participants use their breath to move across a serene underwater world. You can navigate and determine the speed of your movement by breathing calmly and deeply. Studies prove that deep abdominal breathing stimulates rest and relieves stress. Creators Owen Harris and Niki Smit incorporate this fact in their game. Collaborating with the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab (Radboud University, Nijmegen), the makers did five years of artistic, game and design research to create the ultimate experience for young people who are troubled by anxiety.
Through proper breathing, the player discovers a poetic underwater world, where everything reacts to their breathing. All the fish and plants mirror their movements and the game uses biofeedback from a special belt and eye tracking.
The first version of Deep premiered at Cinekid in 2015. The final version was released this year on Oculus Quest 2, making it accessible to everyone, and now has its Dutch premiere at Cinekid.
ALISTAIR AITCHESON
UNITED KINGDOM | | 8+
OWEN HARRIS, NIKI SMIT
THE NETHERLANDS | 2015 | 7+
FACTS
Lead Programmer Michael Townsend Programmer Cale Bradbury, Rik de Rooij Sound Design Andy Mooney Producer Sarah Ticho Research Supervision & Advisor Isabela Granic Researcher Joanneke Weerdmeester Partner Monobanda Supported by Creative Industries | Cinekid | Mondriaan Fonds | Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab, Radboud University
Devillé Arcade: Teken & Rotoring KendieKrush & YouCube
The Belgian outfit Devillé Arcade, founded by the two brothers Thomas and Hannes Devillé, combine their passions for video games and for woodcraft. Their games are furniture that is specially designed for the games that are inside.
In Teken , you find yourself in a 3D game environment without any colour. It is all grey. Add your own real drawings to the game environment to bring colour into this world. A magical experience combining the physical and the game world.
The puzzle game RotoRing consists of rings of LED visuals that you as a player have to move through with your white light, while trying to avoid the red lights. Thijs Eerens of Games-XL specialises in magnifying classic games we all know. He always manages to trim down the game mechanics of these classics to a series of physical actions, which he subsequently converts into a series of hilarious, life-size versions of, for example, PAC-MAN and Pong.
In the outdoor section of the festival grounds in Amsterdam, Cinekid places two works that are both a recipe for tons of fun. The first is KendieKrush, a Candy Crush Saga spoof where four players have to use physical candies to replicate a certain section of the screen. It is a race against the clock and teamwork is crucial.
YouCube is Thijs’ take on Tetris. The blocks that normally drop down automatically first have to be built with large cubes. The time to build the blocks and put them in the right position gradually runs out during the game, which leads to a hilarious end to the game.
DEVILLÉ ARCADE
THE NETHERLANDS | 2017 | 2020 | 6+
FACTS
Game Designer Rotoring Gregory Kogos
THIJS EERENS, GAMES-XL
THE NETHERLANDS | 2015 | 2009 | 6+
Knife to Meet You Lost Words: Beyond the Page
Tension and laughter galore with the game Knife to Meet You. In turns, players have to press a button as quickly as possible without making mistakes, because the machine punishes them with a (very blunt) rotating knife that tries to cut their fingers. There is some pressure, so players have to cooperate well, play the game as quickly as possible and obviously avoid the pain.
The challenge is not to press the button at the same time, but as quickly as possible, or players will not get any points. The game is about coordination and teamwork, while trying to avoid the knife. The award-winning Lost Words literally takes place on the pages of a book: young Izzy’s diary. While following her writing you are admitted into her inner world, where she shares her personal thoughts and story about the fear, grief and mourning around her grandmother’s decease. But you also experience a narrative adventure that she conceived and wrote, set in the fantasy world of Estoria. In this amalgamation of real and fictitious storytelling, the player literally follows Izzy’s words and sentences, and experiences everything with her. You sense that Izzy takes refuge in a fantasy, both to distract her from what goes on in her real life, but also to help her cope with her loss. It is heart-rending to share in her grief for her grandmother.
Conceived by game writer Rhianna Pratchett (author Terry Pratchett’s daughter), Izzy’s voice becomes very powerful, personal and authentic, but also universal. Through her writing, she navigates her emotions, along with the player. Different layers of interaction, language, visuals and game mechanics come together in the most harmonious and immersive manner - only possible in the game medium.
ROBIN BAUMGARTEN, ARMEL GIBSON, JONATAN VAN HOVE, ARAN KONING
FRANCE | 2015 | 10+
SKETCHBOOK GAMES, FOURTH STATE
UNITED STATES | 2021 | 8+
The Pack
The Pack was conceived by Design I/O, the creators of Field. It is an open-world game that is ‘procedurallygenerated’. This means that every time a player starts a new game, they end up in a completely unique world. The game addresses two themes that reappear in interconnected ways in many of Design I/O’s projects: environmental awareness and computational thinking. These themes come together in a fictitious world: Algos.
On Algos, all ecosystems are busted, raw materials are scarce, and biodiversity is defunct. It is up to the player to repair the different ecosystems and restore the balance by collecting seeds and making the water flow again. The player cannot do this alone and puts together a ‘Pack’ consisting of colourful, singular little creatures that they encounter and who all have their own unique qualities: dig, retain, grab, repeat. By combining their skills, they can algorithmically perform tasks that all have an effect on the world around them. A successful algorithm restores the habitat on Algos.
In this way, the game teaches players to intuitively tackle problems through computational thinking.
DESIGN I/O
UNITED STATES | 2019 | 8+
FACTS
In collaboration with the New York Hall of Science Additional Design Josh Goodrich & James Paterson Sound Design Anna Cataldo Supported by the New York Hall of Science and the National Science Foundation
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