Error-Prone: A Cyborg Game

Worked with Abhinand Jayasankaran

Game Title : Error-Prone

(http://forestambassador.com/post/128410813356/error-prone-is-a-game-about-tech-fantasies-by-made)

Designer: Code — Peter Cardwell-Gardner & Art & Sound — Mark Backler

Goal of the game: Take control over a car of respective letters and control it without causing any accidents by colliding with other cars. There is no way to win, the main point is to get across the message that autonomous cars are more efficient than humans.

Game Mechanics: Press specific key to move a car for only enough time for it to not crash, but quickly enough for the car behind it to not crash. Played as multiplayer mainly, but could be played with one person.

Controls: All 26 letters on a keyboard are used, each letter assigned to it’s own car.

Theme of the Game:

The game itself is very simple, 26 cars autonomous cars driving around in a neat little circle. When you press a letter on the keyboard you take control and almost immediately you will see the effects your erratic human driving causing grid lock or even accidents. The more people play (up to 26, if you can fit and have a good enough keyboard) the more chaos ensues. The only way to win is to not play at all.

Is this a cyborg game? Why?

This game is a cyborg game because you cannot win. The description of the game says “The only way to win is to not play at all.” Games normally are designed for someone to be able to win. The definition of a game is: “a form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.” This game contradicts the definition of a game and According to Elise Vist on page 55 of “Cyborg Games”, “Cyborg games create spaces where normative players, or people who have always been invited into game worlds, are confronted with a space they don’t fit into.” The only real purpose of this game is for the player to fail, and then tell you that an autonomous vehicle would’ve done it better. This game is just meant to get across a message, and not designed the way an average game would be, therefore it is a cyborg game.

Worked with Abhinand Jayasankaran