Transmission 32: R&D 2024: Games & narrative games (last of summer)

Here come insights and behind-the-scenes from our futures practice! A glimpse into our uncommon approach, to keep updated or to know what to expect when time traveling with us.

This is a transmission ruled by a classic: a Supermoon (the first of 2024).

Happy Supermoon!

Welcome back to The Time Travel Transmissions.

Spring and Summer are still R&D seasons at The Time Travel Agency.
And transmissions during this time will be ruled by celestial events!

Each transmission will broadcast one line of investigation and research. This is the last transmission of (northern) summer.

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Today: Narrative games

Narrative games include interactive narrative, adventure games, and interactive fiction; they are story-driven games. Netprov is a form of collaborative storytelling that unfolds in real-time over electronic platforms, and uses elements from literature, performance, and digital interaction.

After this year’s NarraScope (where we guided a play of DATTOPIAS) and in honor of what we’ve researched, this Transmission with supermoon energy is for you.

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UNTITLED GAME 12

The city of Twelve has asked Ronna to figure something out: in the city’s tram system surreal events have started occurring without explanation, for instance sudden changes in weather inside the trams, objects and scenery appearing and disappearing during rush hours, or that switching seats leads to different, dreamlike environments.

While Ronna daydreams of possible explanations, they ask travelers to start reporting incidents via a Google Form.

Since you are reading this, I am happy you are here to report an incident. Here’s a map of the original transportation system to situate you:

And here is the other map, which now materializes every Tuesday to the chagrin of commuters and other travelers:

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Here is the form (you do not need to sign in); the form looks like this:

Form url

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Thank you if you bravely submitted an incident, have a good rest of your summer, and enjoy the supermoon!

Spoiler: The story evolves unpredictably, with twists emerging based on passenger’s reports, abilities gained by Ronna, and descriptions shared. Ronna does solve the situation. Every year, the city celebrates this anniversary.

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The other news:

The Time Travel Agency has been honored to receive the August Wilson Archive Artist-Scholar Grant from the University of Pittsburgh this spring!

The studio was chosen among a group of scholars, artists, and educators to receive funding to explore the archive and deliver a creation to share with the Pittsburgh community. Our framework will be to see the archive as a future place where his legacy has something to tell us in 2024-25.

We will begin work this autumn, and our piece(s) will be released in November and then throughout winter and spring 2025.

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Thank you for being here and for caring about our process. Our next transmission will be during (northern) autumn or perhaps all the way into winter.

For quicker updates and Hellos there is always LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Time travel with us

We are a speculative design and innovation studio helping to build futures where people feel happy to be alive. Our services in discovery and front-end innovation allows us to develop and implement new products, services, and processes; help organizations of all sizes to be at ease with a changing present or future; and facilitate imaginative experiences that drive growth.

If what we do resonates with you or one of your peers get in touch through this form and let’s explore dreaming then building together.