A game exploring intentional linguistic ambiguity
Made as part of the course Currents: Playful Prototyping taught by Jason Li in the Art, Media & Technology department at Parsons School of Design
The game can be played here.
Week 2’s theme is Push the Button.
I find linguistic ambiguity to be really interesting, and I was excited to delve into this interest when creating an interactive experience. As someone who enjoys jokes based on intentional misinterpretations (see: Eats, Shoots, and Leaves), I think it’s fun to come up with different ways to interpret the same phrase. Therefore, gamifying linguistic ambiguity seemed to be a fun challenge.
As I was brainstorming this week’s theme, I started by thinking of all the possible meanings of the phrase “push the button.” I considered buttons as referring to mechanical buttons, clothing buttons, and pin on buttons; I considered pushing as meaning triggering via pressing, moving via applying force, adding to an array via push(), etc. As I thought of possible meanings of this phrase, I realized that these multiple meanings could be the basis for my prototype. In this week’s prototype, I wanted to play with intentional ambiguity.
This week, I chose to explore using ambiguous instructions to force the user to guess what input would be appropriate.
In this flash game by Glenn Rhodes, instructions are intentionally misleading. Players must find the hidden meaning within the instructions in order to complete each level.1
In this collaborative production game by Ian Kizu-Blair, Sam Lavigne and Sean Mahan, players must complete tasks suggested by other players and post their completed tasks on the website forum. Players then like each other’s task responses; the goal is to get as many likes as possible. The community tends to most enjoy responses that are creative and play with the potential meanings the wording of the tasks.2
In this journal article, authors Neil Dansey, Brett Stevens, and Roger Eglin “explore the potential of contextually-ambiguous games.3 While results did not generate strong conclusions, they suggest that games that reward the player for finding differing interpretations of rules are especially enjoyable.4
In this flash game by John Cooney, the player is presented with seemingly the same level over and over again. However, each level actually has different objectives and hinted variations.[^5[
Precedents I found suggested that this sort of unguided gameplay can be particularly captivating. This notion encouraged me to continue with my idea of intentional ambiguity.
In my game, players will be presented with the singular instruction of “push the button.” The player is then forced to contemplate potential meanings of the phrase in order to complete the level based on the visual assets provided to them. To facilitate gameplay, the introduction to the game will explain that the player can user the arrow keys and the mouse as input. The levels will be as follows:
- Use the mouse to click a mechanical button
- Use the arrow keys to push a clothing button onto an X
- Use the arrow keys to close a safety pin by pushing on the pin
- Use the mouse to drag different words in order to write code that would add the string “the button” to the front of an array
- User the arrow keys to push a clothing button through a button hole
Game strategy will revolve around navigating linguistic ambiguity and using creativity to find alternative meanings to the singular instruction. I plan to create the game using p5.js.
Because my prototype last week had relatively simple graphics, I want to use this prototype to explore more visually interesting and complex assets.
- Explore the potentials of intentional ambiguity within gameplay
- Create more complex visuals
For the visuals, I took inspiration from old scrapbook images. I decided to edit the photos to be grainier and to use cut out shapes to give a scrapbook-effect. I aimed to create a playful, zany aesthetic through collage.
To match my visuals, I wanted my background music to add to the whimsical atmosphere of the game. I decided to use an instrument that sounded like a bell to play a simple major chord progression. Because my music last week felt a bit too obviously like a loop of four chords, I added a bridge to my music this week. I created the game music using Ableton Live. The game music can be found and played here.
When designing visuals with numerous different moving components, I apparently get dizzy pretty easily. In the future, I want to work on developing my animation decisions so that I don’t have to change them later because they hurt my head.
If I had more time, I would add sound effects for interactions within the game. I’d likely add the sound of pushing a mechanical button for level 1, the sound of something being pushed across a surface for level 2, the sound of a pin being fastened for level 3, the sound of typing for level 4, and the sound of fabric rustling for level 5.
I think the visuals turned out well for my first time experimenting with this sort of aesthetic! The graininess ended up giving the game a comforting, vintage feel, which I enjoyed. I also think the added animations added a layer of visual excitement.
When using the p5.js sound library, I ran into many bugs that made debugging super frustrating.
Asadi, Elnaz. “Colors.” Unsplash, Unsplash, 15 July 2020, https://unsplash.com/photos/NT09ctjeDkQ.
Cooney, John. “This is the Only Level.” Armor Games, 2009, https://armorgames.com/play/4309/this-is-the-only-level.
Dansey, Neil, Brett Stevens, and Roger Eglin. "Contextually-Ambiguous Pervasive Games: An Exploratory Study." DiGRA Conference. 2009.
Deluvio, Charles. “Finger.” Unsplash, Unsplash, 26 February 2018, https://unsplash.com/photos/YJxAy2p_ZJ4.
Gàbor, Adonyi. “Assorted-Color Sewing Machine”. Pexels, Pexels, 11 February 2018, https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-color-sewing-machine-1409217/.
Gennaro, Diego. “Vintage Pins.” Unsplash, Unsplash, 29 May 2020, https://unsplash.com/photos/WcF653WZDIE.
Herrmann, Sebastian. “Untitled.” Unsplash, Unsplash, 14 January 2020, https://unsplash.com/photos/0PW8gQR2Uek.
Iwata, Ryoji. “Crossing.” Unsplash, Unsplash, 2 February 2018, https://unsplash.com/photos/vWfKaO0k9pc.
Kizu-Blair, Ian, Sam Lavigne and Sean Mahan. “SFZero.” Playtime Antiboredom, 2007, http://sf0.org/.
Mediamodifier. “Pin Badge Button.” Pixabay, Pixabay, 24 November 2020, https://pixabay.com/illustrations/pin-badge-button-pin-badge-3d-5766347/.
Nilov, Mikhail. “A Woman in White Knit Sweater Sitting on a Sofa.” Pexels, Pexels, 14 February 2021, https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-in-white-knit-sweater-sitting-on-a-sofa-6968305/.
Rhodes, Glenn. “The Impossible Quiz.” Splapp-Me-Do, 2007, https://theimpossiblequiz.io/.