Big Games in Washington Square

Visited NYC recently or work in the city? Have you ever noticed the myriad of unused and decaying payphones on every block in Manhattan?

They are everywhere and everyone on the street seems to have their  mobile phone or Bluetooth device permanently attached to their ears.  Does anyone ever use these payphones?

Enter Payphone Warriors – a recent real-world mashup of the Flash Mob, Capture the Flag and MMOGs  – envisioned by Abe Burmeister, Gregory Trefry and Cory Forsyth and an excellent example of a “Big Game“:

“Big Games are large-scale, multiplayer games that transform the physical space around us into a shared gameworld, brought to life by the choices, actions, and experiences of the players.”

In this example, teams equipped with handfuls of quarters set out to capture (by dialing a number and the team’s extension) pay phones within a three-block radius and control them for longer than other teams. Most of the players are young professionals, artists and technology enthusiasts. News of the games spread online, mostly on blog sites such as What’s Up: NYC and digg.com just days before the festival.

The event, reported on CBS News and ZDNet, has been repeated several times.  If you’re interested in participating, register here.

David Feldt