Game Design & The Psychology of Choice
The Heist of 370 Jay Street
An interactive, multi-media scavenger hunt based on the true story of an unsolved mystery of how robbers stole $600k through a hole in the wall in the MTA building in downtown Brooklyn in 1979. Includes an AR component, a machine learning conpoment, physical fabricated elements, and a narrative built on twinery.
Background
Erkin, Paulami and I built a multi-media scavenger hunt that allowed users to navigate through the halls of ITP.
Link to full story: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/back-still-unsolved-1979-mta-heist-article-1.2681836
Link to full story: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/back-still-unsolved-1979-mta-heist-article-1.2681836
Narrative
The narrative itself was built on twinery and can be found here: https://twinery.org/2/#!/stories/990cfc4b-673b-472c-b885-e0c573e05cda/play
Full narrative:
(1/11)
When Benjamin Williams and John Kenny walked into the MTA Headquarters on July 23, 1979, they noticed a little something missing. Well, more than a little something — $600,000 in $10 bills had vanished overnight.
Yes, I want to help!
(2/11)
You are a newbie to ITP. You studied forensic science in your bachelors and you came to ITP to mix your love for solving crimes with modern technology.
Okay
(3/11)
Williams and Kenny left clues behind, in the hopes that someone would eventually come to solve the unsolved mystery. The reason no one has ever been able to find that first clue is that it's been hidden under a pile of junk on the ITP floor.
Did you find "it"?
Yes, I found it!
(4/11)
Now, open the box but don't break it. There is a fragile material inside it.
Yes, I opened it.
(5/11)
Wonderful, now walk over to the Lab 1 desk (near the entrance) where your next clue will await.
Hint: you have to use your last clue to unlock this next one.
Did you find the next clue?
Yes!
(6/11)
Great, now download the "XR Viewer" browser from the app store and open the URL.
Done
(7/11)
Wonderful. Did you see the map?
Yes
No, I need help
(8/11)
Wonderful. Go, to the floor that the map indicates. When you arrive, the mastermind will have left something behind for you in a bin (it's sanitized I promise). When you find it, return it here for more instructions.
Did you find it?
I need the next clue
(10/11)
The mysterious text inside of the shoe will help you find who the mastermind is. But with this task, you’re allowed to have some help. Go back to the zoom call and use the help of your classmates to unscrabble the texts and find who the mastermind is.
I need another clue
(11/11)
Final Hint: They hail from Central Asia, but have lived in America their whole life. They have lived in disguise in other countries, but are currently at ITP trying to blend in and hide from the FBI. They have a size 9 shoe. Their last name is 15 characters long.
Full narrative:
(1/11)
When Benjamin Williams and John Kenny walked into the MTA Headquarters on July 23, 1979, they noticed a little something missing. Well, more than a little something — $600,000 in $10 bills had vanished overnight.
Yes, I want to help!
(2/11)
You are a newbie to ITP. You studied forensic science in your bachelors and you came to ITP to mix your love for solving crimes with modern technology.
Okay
(3/11)
Williams and Kenny left clues behind, in the hopes that someone would eventually come to solve the unsolved mystery. The reason no one has ever been able to find that first clue is that it's been hidden under a pile of junk on the ITP floor.
Did you find "it"?
Yes, I found it!
(4/11)
Now, open the box but don't break it. There is a fragile material inside it.
Yes, I opened it.
(5/11)
Wonderful, now walk over to the Lab 1 desk (near the entrance) where your next clue will await.
Hint: you have to use your last clue to unlock this next one.
Did you find the next clue?
Yes!
(6/11)
Great, now download the "XR Viewer" browser from the app store and open the URL.
Done
(7/11)
Wonderful. Did you see the map?
Yes
No, I need help
(8/11)
Wonderful. Go, to the floor that the map indicates. When you arrive, the mastermind will have left something behind for you in a bin (it's sanitized I promise). When you find it, return it here for more instructions.
Did you find it?
I need the next clue
(10/11)
The mysterious text inside of the shoe will help you find who the mastermind is. But with this task, you’re allowed to have some help. Go back to the zoom call and use the help of your classmates to unscrabble the texts and find who the mastermind is.
I need another clue
(11/11)
Final Hint: They hail from Central Asia, but have lived in America their whole life. They have lived in disguise in other countries, but are currently at ITP trying to blend in and hide from the FBI. They have a size 9 shoe. Their last name is 15 characters long.
Fabrication Component (part I)
Player was expected to find the box given the previous clue and open the box to find a metrocard which would inform the next clue
Box built using a laser cutter
Player was expected to find the box given the previous clue and open the box to find a metrocard which would inform the next clue
Box built using a laser cutter
Machine Learning Component (part II)
The player was expected to use the previous clue (the metrocard inside of the box) to render the next clue.
Built on google's teachable machine and rendered on p5.js.
The player was expected to use the previous clue (the metrocard inside of the box) to render the next clue.
Built on google's teachable machine and rendered on p5.js.
AR Component (Part III)
Player was expected use this accessible AR link to find the map that would lead to the next clue.
Built on WebXR & Three.js
Player was expected use this accessible AR link to find the map that would lead to the next clue.
Built on WebXR & Three.js
Capital Chess
A modification of the game chess that incorporates capital
Game Link: https://playingcards.io/srqqge
Game Link: https://playingcards.io/srqqge
Background
The goal of this assignment was to modify Chess to increase or decrease demands on attention.
Game Rules
Goal is to take the King. Start the game with 100 coins. Each piece moves the regular chess way. You spend 1 money to move a tile. If you kill, you get 5 moneys. Special pieces (non-pawns) are available for purchase for 6 money, except for the queen costs 11. If you reach 0 money you lose. Encouraged to be played in teams of 2.
Theory
My modifications to the chess game is rooted in Daniel Kahneman's theory of money priming. To quote Thinking Fast and Slow: "Money-primed people become more independent thatn they would be without the associative trigger ... money-primed people are also more selfish ... money-primed undergraduates also showed a greater preference for being alone (page 55)." The hypothesis behind the modification is that priming players with money will lead to disgruntled teams that will find difficulty managing their capital. There's also evidently a substantial increase on attention demand, raising stress on your "System 2" but not necessarily your "System 1".
Game Play / Conclusions
After several sessions of playing the game, some interesting results came up. The first one being that being aggressive in this game clearly paid off. Throughout every game that was played, the player who was initially most aggressive with their capital won the game.US-born players were consistently more aggressive with their capital than their international-born counterparts.Our intention and expectation was to increase demands on attention but for less experience chess players, our rules had an adverse effect because it opened the opportunity to control less pieces.