Jon Murray Designs
Level Designer
Bard of Brooklyn Playtest.jpg

Ghosts of DUMBO (Copy)

Players use a smart-phone app to unlock local mini games in the DUMBO neighborhood, each of which leads to a live encounter with a ghost from DUMBO’s past. Play one or play all, in an experience that will leave you haunted — and maybe even possessed!

This game was created with a team of ESI designers for New York City’s Come Out and Play 2016 event. 

Ghosts of DUMBO
Explore DUMBO, play games, summon ghosts

project description

Players use a smart-phone app to unlock local mini games in the DUMBO neighborhood, each of which leads to a live encounter with a ghost from DUMBO’s past. Play one or play all, in an experience that will leave you haunted — and maybe even possessed!

This game was created with a team of ESI designers for New York City’s Come Out and Play 2016 event. 

main features include

  • Players meet real ghosts played by actors.

  • Played with groups in DUMBO and based off the history of the location.

  • Mini games use AR, Geo-caching, and creative challenges.

 

Project Details
Role: Game Designer
Client: ESI Design
Platform: Android
Tools Used: InDesign, Game Design, Level Design, Prototyping, Playtesting
Year: 2016

Designed Around Location and History

DUMBO was our level. We designed a total of three local mini-games around the architecture and urban setting of Downtown NYC in the DUMBO district.

Points of Interest Include

  • Brooklyn Bridge

  • Robert Gair Building

  • Walt Whitman Pier

Game System

The over game system was designed around narrative and history. The mission drives the exploration and the exploration drives the narrative creating a system where the more missions the players play the more they experience the history of DUMBO.

UX/UI

In each game you learn about the history of DUMBO through three story's and challenges. In each challenge you meet a ghost that gives the premise of the game. After accomplishing the goal you get to hear the story from the ghosts about the historical significance of them and how they affected DUMBO.

UX / UI Designed by Sadie Prego

The player uses their camera to complete a poem to summon a ghost. More about this game below.

The Mini Games

Walt Whitman

AR GAME
Player's use AR to write a poem, then get the location to meet the summoned ghost.

PAPER BARON - AR Game

In the Paper Baron challenge, you get to write a poem using your phone and then get to meet Walt Whitman a famous writer who lived in DUMBO.

  1. Go to the location marked in your phone to receive a half-written poem.

  2. Cast your phone in the direction of objects to fill out the rest of the poem using image recognition.

  3. Submit your poem that you created using AR to get the location to meet (summon) the actor who is portraying Walt Whitman.

Robert Gair

PHYSICAL GAME
Players create a cereal box and then submit it with their phone for approval.

The bard of brooklyn - AR Game

In the Bard of Brooklyn challenge, you get to learn about Robert Gair the Industrial Tycoon whose company was the first to mass-produce cardboard paper.

  1. Design your own cereal brand.

  2. Take a photo to send to the Gair Company.

  3. Get approval from the boss and receive the location of your summoned ghost to give him your cereal box.

Ghost Girl

SPEECH GAME
Player use their voice to recite a sentence in Russian to summon a ghost.

Haunted Bridge - SPEECH RECOGNITION Game

In this game, the player is asked to recite a sentence in Russian summoning the ghost to tell their story about her brothers dying during the construction of the Brooklyn bridge.

  1. Listen to each sentence in the original language.

  2. Then speak the phrase to reveal the English translation.

  3. At the end of the game, you'll get the location of your ghost to meet and her here story.

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