RIB 9 & 10

Being social in a big city can be very difficult. So why not make a game out of it? The game Comfort of Strangers seemingly makes the players interact with each other, whether that be electronically or verbally. A two team based game of Lovers vs. Dancers pins the sides against each other to “eliminate” the other team by smoky walking by them and taking a life. Your unknown teammates may also supply you with extra lives as well. The very thought of playing with strangers is normal to most indoor gamers, however, in an AR setting it is done in real life. Games like this require a somewhat social aspect to them, so introverts (like me) probably wouldn’t find this too enticing. On the other hand, in the grand scheme of things this could help people learn to trust utter strangers in an attempt to win.

In the following chapter we are encouraged to “hack” our lives and make then happier, more fun, etc. Doing things such as dancing, being nice to others, and apparently thinking about death (probably the most counterintuitive thing I’ve ever heard) can make our lives a little brighter. This can also be left up to personal preference. In our current day to day lives we all go to class, study, do homework, and inevitably stress over something. In order to counter act such feelings we must “hack” our lives and stray from the day to day. Whether that means going to a party, working out, hanging with friends, playing video games, or anything that makes you happy, you’ve successfully hacked yourself. Hack more, stress less.

Posted on by Carson Clark
Categories: Uncategorized

5 Responses

  1. Josephine Bossidy says:
    September 30, 2018 at 12:04 pm

    I thought the idea of Happiness Hacking that was discussed in Chapter 10 was very interesting. I agree with the idea that we need some variety in our lives and ways to make it brighter. Implementing games can help eliminate some stress that we have and fulfill the happiness that we seek.

  2. James Bachmann says:
    September 30, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    When it comes to stress, I am all ears. The book did bring up a great point in which, routines are great, but if they become the sole thing someone does, it can cause a lot of problems. So, choosing to shake things up, doing something enjoyable, can really help someones day, even if they are a creature of habit (like me).

  3. Joseph Sterling says:
    September 30, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    When I was a kid, my parents would take me and some friends to go on a walk through Hollywood Cemetery (California stole the name). The game of Tombstone hold’em reminded me of those times. It’s a great walk, and it made me think of getting a game started there one weekend, just to see how it works first-hand. Thinking about death can lead to living more in the moment, but it always leads me to a small existential crisis, the game may be a way to think about death without the dread that accompanies it.

  4. Rachel Helbling says:
    September 30, 2018 at 8:47 pm

    I liked reading about the game the comfort of strangers. I’ve never heard of this game before but think it has a really interesting idea, the fact that you don’t know who the other players even are. I agree with what you said about how playing with strangers in indoor games is considered normal but this is more rare to see in a game when you are actually required to interact with real people. although this doesn’t have the same type of positive impact, this is similar to Pokemon Go, another AR game. You can meet real people and work together for example when trying to fight and take over a gym of another team. These types of games can be really beneficial in helping real social interactions.

  5. Ahsan Ahmad says:
    October 1, 2018 at 3:07 am

    I think all of the games mentioned in the two chapters had very unique concepts behind them. As I started reading about the Comfort of Strangers, I initially misunderstood that the game would require physical/social interaction (and was appalled by the counterintuitive nature I had mistakenly inferred it to be of). However, upon finding out how the game actually worked—just by proximity—I was impressed by its concept. Similarly, the games in Chapter 10 provided unique ways to hack happiness and make one’s day just a little bit less stressful, something we can all use in today’s time.