Water Cooler Games

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World Without Oil
May 1, 2007 - by Ian Bogost

A new Alternate Reality Game called World Without Oil has launched, taking on the end of oil. As described in a recent article on the game, in the game's fictional world, "gas prices will skyrocket, a dwindling food supply will rot, and the oil crisis literally will stop Americans in their tracks. How can you and your loved ones survive a crippling breakdown?"

The game is created by Ken Eklund and is a part of PBS's Independent Lens and its Electric Shadows programming, which in turn are presented by iTVS, the same group that funded our forthcoming game Fatworld, about the politics of nutrition. And if you need more reasons to try it out, ARG veteran and my Cruel 2 B Kind cohort Jane McGonigal is also collaborating on World Without Oil.

It's really easy to start playing World Without Oil. Registration takes 15 seconds, and then you can begin to contribute insights into the future oil shortfall.



Comment from Phalligator on May 1, 2007

Another great article about the game and about Jane appeared in the SF Weekly.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-04-18/news/future-games/

Comment from Ian Bogost on May 4, 2007


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