Gridlockd

(via mauro), Gridlockd by Mohit SantRam at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University:

GridLockd! is a large urban game where four teams compete to capture as many grid positions within a half hour on a city-based game board. Loosely based on Othello, which is a two player game of tiles, these four teams must be the first to photograph as many unique semacodes placed in 36 city intersections.

This project is meant to display how semacodes, camera phones, ad-hoc groups, and social dynamics are effected under time pressure.

The game scenarios are smart: 12 people compete in 4 groups of 3 people. The game board is made up of 36 unique semacodes placed within intersection points on a 5 block by 5 block city grid. Using their camera phone to photograph a semacode, the first team to send it to semacode@gridlockd.net will win possession of the intersection. Whichever team captures a point first claims the intersection. Another team can claim that intersection by capturing two surrounding intersections. The winner is determined by the team who captures the most points within 30 minutes. In Assassin mode, opposing team members may eliminate their counterparts from the game. Elimination occurs by successfully photographing a unique semacode on the back of an enemy's t-shirt. These photographs are sent to a live GridLockd! moderator who will verify the photograph and determine if a participant has been eliminated.