Games & Controllers

are the defining ingredients of digital play experiences. Simply changing the input method on a controller can radically alter the way a game is approached. The devices here celebrate what becomes possible when you breakaway from the confines of screens, D-pads, triggers, bumpers, analog sticks, and buttons.

Push All The Buttons

Push All The Buttons is a game without rules and, as its name suggests, a single victory objective. Players are encouraged to explore and experiment with different techniques in order to win. A homemade 128-button Arduinome and simple Max patch serve as the games platform.

Sea Bees

Sea Bees is a virtual pet game inspired by the original Tamogotchi and designed in collaboration with William Anderson. In it, you raise a unique breed of underwater bee by providing nutritious food and making sure they beehave themselves. Perform your apiary duties adequately and your companion will grow and evolve. The game includes a complex branching evolution tree for players to explore. Sea Bees runs on battery, so you can take it everywhere you go.

Panoramical Controller

Fifty special edition controllers were made for early supporters of Panoramical, a sublime non-game created by Fernando Ramallo that has players manipulating the features of an endless horizon line. The laser cut walnut and acrylic cases were sanded and then assembled by hand. The electronic components consisted of a custom printed circuit board and a USB microcontroller. Another larger version was designed for The Game Science Center in Berlin for public display and use.

Super Sequence Fighter

Super Sequence Fighter is a video game controller based on a step-sequencer. Players program their commands using two sets of sliders: one for movements and another for attacks. These commands are stepped through sequentially and executed automatically. Other controls are used for altering the rate that the steps advance, limiting the number of steps, and reversing the direction of the sequence.

7-SDS

The 7-SDS (Seven-Segment Display Synthesizer) is a rudimentary computer for displaying text. It is capable of programming six LED displays through the use of a series of switches. Due to the limited resolution of the displays, all but a handful of Roman characters can be represented. W, X, K, M, and Q are the exceptions. This limitation was the inspiration for a lipogram, a constrained writing technique in which selected letters of the alphabet cannot be used to compose a text. Additionally, all words must be entered on the 7-SDS in six-letter blocks. Blocks may contain more than a word, but a word may never be split across more than one block.

Envoy

Envoy is a hybrid digital/tangible text adventure game. The player assumes the role of a space captain en route to an alien world. On board the ship is a diplomat who will bring an end to a war that has divided the galaxy for centuries. But all is not as it seems. The player must use their wits and puzzle-solving abilities to ensure the envoy arrives safely.