Ways of Seeing
A downloadable game
Ways of Seeing is an invasive game: an attempt at translating an anxious / obsessive thought experiment into play, and playing the game involves adopting that thought experiment, at least temporarily. Playing necessarily carries the risk that the player might inadvertently adopt this thought experiment as an unwanted / compulsive / invasive thought pattern; the game should thus be considered a memetic hazard or cognitohazard.
Ways of Seeing is a game about looking, to be played solo on a daily commute. It involves no direct interaction with others.
CWs: Surveillance, anxiety about eye contact and gaze, social media, doxxing, compulsive thought patterns.
This game is presented as a print-it-yourself trifold pamphlet, so that the game text can be easily concealed. Print and fold on the dotted lines. If your printer adds a margin around the edge of the page, you may have to cut along the border outline first.
The trifold version uses the Rubik typeface from Hubert & Fischer.
Download
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Comments
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This is incredibly well done, really evokes my innate paranoia and heightens it. I will not play this as the experience of simply reading the rules transports me to the points at which I have experienced this sort of belief while out and about.
TL;DR yeah, this is a very well made thing, accurately, hard to describe how well made it is, too close
Thank you!
Oh, damn.
This reminds me of a manga I adore by one of my favourite mangaka: Himitsu / (The) Top Secret, by Shimizu Reiko; the premise being that the protags are cops using exactly this technology to do exactly as described. If you want more ideas and explorations of ways it could be used and exacerbate the anxiety.
Despite knowing and loving that manga for over a decade, I'd never thought of a game application, so it makes me so happy to see this concept again from a completely different source and medium. Not sure I'll ever truly play this, although the safety tips and framing system seem very helpful and might make it secure enough for me... but at any rate, I loved reading it, love the concept, the writing and the formatting, love your work.
Thank you! I'm very happy with how the design and layout turned out for this very cursed game.