Book Lovers Locked in NY Public Library
Ever wonder what it would be like to spend 10 hours locked in the Library with 500 other people?
You can with “Find the Future: The Game“—a pioneering, augmented reality experience created especially for New York Public Library’s Centennial by famed game designer Jane McGonigal, with Natron Baxter and Playmatics.
The interactive game combines real-world missions with virtual clues and online collaboration, and is “designed to empower people to find their own futures by bringing them face-to-face with the writings and objects of people who made an extraordinary difference,” says McGonigal.
All 500 participants, locked overnight in the Library, explored the building’s 70 miles of stacks, and, using laptops and smartphones, following clues inspired by 100 works from the amazing collections of NYPL, to such treasures as the Library’s copy of the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson’s hand. After finding each object, each player wrote a short personal essay inspired by his/her quest. Winning the game meant writing a collaborative book based on these personal stories about the future, and this volume will be added to the Library’s collections.
Yes, it sounds nerdy. Yes, it’s like A Night at the Museum but for bookworms with inch-thick glasses. Douglas MacKrell, one of the participants, made this video that really captures the movement and energy of what it was like to spend 10 hours locked in the Library and on a quest with 500 people.
I think it’s dope. (Yes, I was one of those bookworm nerds with glasses perching on the library all day long. I ♥ books!)