WhereCamp PDX Takes on PacManhattan
On the final day of WhereCamp, it was time for location-based games. After a late night of geohacking, several WhereCampers returned early to play PacManhattan, where city streets become the game board.
Four ghosts and a Pac-Man run around, each receiving information from a representative in the control room and reporting their locations over cell phones. Pac-Man collects virtual pellets, avoiding the ghosts. Four “power pills” can be activated at specific intersections.
To win, Pac-Man needs to clear the board of pellets within three lives. In two runs of the game at WhereCamp PDX, Pac-Man wasn’t able to finish. By the looks of things, everyone still had fun, as well as plenty of ideas to make it better (automatically-updated map, anyone?)
For an interview with Pac-Man and a view of the control room, see this PacManhattan video I created (embedded below):
[PacManhattan pictures by Selena Deckelmann]
