Portfolio
Actual Quotes From Players
IngenuityFest 2016
“ We just wanted to tell you that LITERALLY this is the longest that all of us have played a game together. It was great! Seriously!”
“ You know... I used to have one of these radios. We loved that radio. The entire family would circle around it for hours. This just fascinates me. It's so great to see that you could take something that might have just been thrown away and forgotten but you somehow brought it back to life using computers or... or new technology which I don't even pretend to understand. Nice. Nice work.”
“ I like that alot.”
“ Wooooooooooooooooooooo! ”
“ What is this? It's like a game or something. Pffffffftttt! Looks like it would take hours to play. Meh. Let's go see what bands are playing.”
“ How cool is that?”
“Is this like a Rube Goldberg thing? Huh. Cool. How much you gonna sell it for? Come on. Gimme a number. You know you want to sell it to me. Come on. Come onnnnnn... What if I say please?”
“Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!”
“ Whaaaaahahahaha.... this is freaky as $%@*. That... that scares me.”
“ Genius. Hmmm. Yeah. Genius.”
“ No honey. This one here is more like a you have to hunt around for a picture kind of game. These other ones are more like long stories. Which one do you want to do first. Don't worry, we can do it together. You want to do that one over there? O.K. We'll do that one first.”
“ Oooooooooh!!! I LOVE this $%@*!”
“ Saw your exhibit of the game on the cards. I used to play games like that on my Apple computer.”
“ That... is super COOOOOL!”
“ ...... ”
“ What's this? Ohhhhh. It's like an old radio, but a t.v., but also art? Is that right? Is it also art? Very beautiful. Look at all the stuff on here. What's this thing? Can I touch it.”
“ Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Ooops.”
“ Hahahahaha. Yesssss! That's what I'm talking about.”
“ What's that? And what's that? Ooh. And that. What is that? How does that work. And that... what's that?”
A young lady was walking briskly around the games with a group of 5 of her friends. Each person took a turn reading out a card. They would then laugh and joke around as they worked together figuring out what choices they all decided on. She came over to us while they were still playing and wanted to tell us thanks.
“ You know... I used to have one of these radios. We loved that radio. The entire family would circle around it for hours. This just fascinates me. It's so great to see that you could take something that might have just been thrown away and forgotten but you somehow brought it back to life using computers or... or new technology which I don't even pretend to understand. Nice. Nice work.”
An elderly man who was probably in his late 80's came over to the Radio Daze exhibit and was watching the old movies playing on it. His wife took his hand after we were done speaking and they walked away. It was one of those beautiful moments that remind us why we love doing events. There is nothing like being able to speak with someone and getting a chance to see first-hand how something that you created could affect them and bring back so many memories and feelings for them.
“ I like that alot.”
One young man came by with his girlfriend. He was being quiet and cool as she ran around the game. When he saw the "You Are Dead" painting, he smiled, pointed at it and nodded his head. That's all he said as they played the game together for about an hour.
“ Wooooooooooooooooooooo! ”
One young man was screaming this while running around through the games looking for more cards as he played. The girl he was with was rolling her eyes.
“ What is this? It's like a game or something. Pffffffftttt! Looks like it would take hours to play. Meh. Let's go see what bands are playing.”
One fellow said this to a few of his buddies as they wandered around the area checking out all the exhibits. He read a few cards and they quickly moved on.
“ How cool is that?”
A young man came up to the Radio Daze exhibit and continued talk with us about it, wondering how we put it together.
“Is this like a Rube Goldberg thing? Huh. Cool. How much you gonna sell it for? Come on. Gimme a number. You know you want to sell it to me. Come on. Come onnnnnn... What if I say please?”
One fellow came over and stared at the Radio Daze exhibit and watched the movie play while he drank a beer. He desperatley tried to purchase it from us. When we told him it wasn't for sale he sulked away.
“Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!”
The sound of the bell ringing out on the Weird World Exhibit as people kept hitting it even if they were not even playing the games.
“ Whaaaaahahahaha.... this is freaky as $%@*. That... that scares me.”
One fella saw the Radio Daze exhibit as he walked by, came to a dead stop, and said this to another man he was with. Then he watched it for another 10 minutes, touched it a few times trying to see how it worked, watched it a bit more, then left.
“ Genius. Hmmm. Yeah. Genius.”
An older man wearing a very dapper hat came over to the Radio Daze exhbit and was talking to us about it. We graciously thanked him for the extremely kind words. A humble bunch of Hats we be, and we are not used to such high praise. BUT we'll take it! Hahahahahaha.
“ No honey. This one here is more like a you have to hunt around for a picture kind of game. These other ones are more like long stories. Which one do you want to do first. Don't worry, we can do it together. You want to do that one over there? O.K. We'll do that one first.”
A woman with her young daughter walked around the exhibits playing the games together.
“ Oooooooooh!!! I LOVE this $%@*!”
One woman screamed this out as she wandered around the games with a small group of her friends as they were drinking. She read the cards loudly to them as they laughed even louder.
“ Saw your exhibit of the game on the cards. I used to play games like that on my Apple computer.”
An email we recieved from a man who had looked at the exhibits during the festival.
“ That... is super COOOOOL!”
A boy who looked like he was about 12 years old came up to the Radio Daze exhibit with his father and they watched the movie that was playing. His father started teaching him about Silent Movies which his son did not know much about. This lead to us all talking about movies for a good 15 minutes.
“ ...... ”
A group of men looked at the exhibits, looked at each other, wandered around a bit, smirked, then walked away.
“ What's this? Ohhhhh. It's like an old radio, but a t.v., but also art? Is that right? Is it also art? Very beautiful. Look at all the stuff on here. What's this thing? Can I touch it.”
One scruffy looking fellow came over and was enamored by the Radio Daze exhibit. We showed him what all the bits and pieces were and how we put it together.
“ Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Ooops.”
One woman accidentally knocked a pencil holder over and dozens of pencils and pens fell all over the floor. Many of the other people who were playing the games stopped what they were doing and helped her pick everything up. She came up to apologize, but we told here there we no worries. Stuff like this happens at events all the time.
“ Hahahahaha. Yesssss! That's what I'm talking about.”
A middle-aged couple came over to check out the Radio Daze exhibit. They were both thrilled that it was playing Silent Movies and this started a passionate discussion amongst us all about our favorite old movies and television shows. We talked non-stop for a good 20 or 30 minutes until they finally had to leave.
“ What's that? And what's that? Ooh. And that. What is that? How does that work. And that... what's that?”
A young boy who looked to be about 10 years old came over with his family and he began intensely studying the Radio Daze exhibit. We went through all the pieces of the project with him and showed him how we created it. The young man left to go play the other games and we started talking with his father. He was very happy that we took the time to speak with his son. He told us that his son was constantly making things at home. We let him know about more events and Maker Faires that he could get his son involved in and also gave him advice on some items that he could buy inexpensively that his son could use make some of his own projects.
Active Fiction Adventure: Welcome To Weird World
“ Now... what in the $%@* is THIS? No really. What is this? It's a game? And those drawings? What the? You guys are CRAZY! Cool. Yeah, cool. Crazy as #*%@. But cool. ”
“ Ahhhh man, I got killed again. Urrgghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! ”
“ Alright, we're back. Now how the heck do we play this thing? ”
One player made us walk around the exhibit, playing the game with him. He got a huge kick out of all the characters and kept wanting us to explain where we got our ideas for them.
“ Ahhhh man, I got killed again. Urrgghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! ”
One young man would come up to us and tell us how he died, then went right back into the game again until he finally finished it. We gave him a congratulatory Steam Hat High-Five!
“ Alright, we're back. Now how the heck do we play this thing? ”
A rather tired looking man came over to the exhibit with his family. After looking at the game confused, he dragged them away because he wanted to see the rest of the festival. A couple of hours later, his kids dragged him back because they were all excited to play. They ran around the exhibit together, laughing until they died 3 times and finally had to leave.
Active Fiction Adventure 2: Cyber Angel
“ Steam Hat's incredible Active Fiction Game is cool because it’s so many layers of retro it makes your head spin. Think about Steampunk meets Zork meets D&D meets SNL writers room ala 1985. ”
“ Wow... that is... absolutely wonderful! ”
“ Loved, loved, loved the art installation at IngenuityFest this year! My boyfriend and I were drawn to it Friday night, circling around and around trying to figure out what it was. 'It's like a game!' we both exclained to each other. We came back Saturday specifically to investigate more and spent about an hour going on the adventure. What a wonderful concept. ”
“ It was really really really fun. I want to be a writer now. ”
“ Ahhhhh, you guys are killing me here! I keep dying but I CAN'T stop playing. I HAVE to win it. I can't leave until I beat it. What have you done to me? ”
“ Yes! Yes! Did you make this? What a GREAT way to get people up and moving and learning all at the same time! The mind and body both working together. Yes! ”
“ Now THIS is what I'm talking about! This is why we drove all the way up here to the festival. Too cool! ”
“ Hey, did you guys make this? The game... was... AWESOME!!! I wish I had something like this at my Wedding Reception. People would have loved it. ”
“ Awesome! I thought it was a really fun game as well. I love those types of games. ”
Review from Cleveland Mini Maker Faire
“ Wow... that is... absolutely wonderful! ”
An English teacher was standing with us, watching the crowd (especially the younger teens and kids) run around, having fun playing the game together. She thought it was an great way to get people excited about reading and wanted us to consider doing some for schools and educational purposes.
“ Loved, loved, loved the art installation at IngenuityFest this year! My boyfriend and I were drawn to it Friday night, circling around and around trying to figure out what it was. 'It's like a game!' we both exclained to each other. We came back Saturday specifically to investigate more and spent about an hour going on the adventure. What a wonderful concept. ”
Fan mail from an ecstatic player after IngenuityFest 2013.
“ It was really really really fun. I want to be a writer now. ”
A young boy told us this after he played and the won the game with his father at the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire.
“ Ahhhhh, you guys are killing me here! I keep dying but I CAN'T stop playing. I HAVE to win it. I can't leave until I beat it. What have you done to me? ”
One young man manically ran around the game, clutching a large flashlight, desperately searching for the next cards. Finally he won, came up to us, and gave us a big high five.
“ Yes! Yes! Did you make this? What a GREAT way to get people up and moving and learning all at the same time! The mind and body both working together. Yes! ”
A Physical Education teacher came over to us and passionately told us about the history of her own career and how she has been teaching the importance of excercise and it's effects on both the mind and the way we learn.
“ Now THIS is what I'm talking about! This is why we drove all the way up here to the festival. Too cool! ”
One mother of two young men told us this why they were circling around the game playing it. They had a blast working together to get through it.
“ Hey, did you guys make this? The game... was... AWESOME!!! I wish I had something like this at my Wedding Reception. People would have loved it. ”
One woman enthusiasticly told us this after playing the game.
“ Awesome! I thought it was a really fun game as well. I love those types of games. ”
Winner of the Crack The Code competition we ran during IngenuityFest 2013.
Active Fiction Adventure 1: Underground
“ My wife and I had a blast circling the display, using our phones as flashlights to read the cards. ”
“ Man, I LOVED Zork and those adventure games when I was young. You guys really nailed it. I totally had flashbacks playing this. You guys did the genre proud. ”
“ I haven't had this much fun in a LONG time! GREAT JOB! ”
“ OH NO!!! I died AGAIN! This is the FIFTH time! ”
“ What is this thing? Wait... check it out. It's a game. Oh my GOD! It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure game. COOL! Oh how COOL! HA HA HA! COOL!”
“ This is ****ing AWESOME! ”
Winner of the Crack The Code competition we ran during IngenuityFest 2012.
“ Man, I LOVED Zork and those adventure games when I was young. You guys really nailed it. I totally had flashbacks playing this. You guys did the genre proud. ”
One player said this then shook my hand vigorously while smiling and thanking us over and over.
“ I haven't had this much fun in a LONG time! GREAT JOB! ”
A player told me this while I was high-fiving him because he finally won the game after about an hour and a half.
“ OH NO!!! I died AGAIN! This is the FIFTH time! ”
One persistent young man talked to me while he was playing the game. He would excitedly tell me how he died each time but kept at it with a smile until he finally won. Then we high-fived and I asked him what he liked and hated about the game. He seemed thrilled to be able to give me his opinion. After all, the players are just as (if not more) important as the creators of the game.
“ What is this thing? Wait... check it out. It's a game. Oh my GOD! It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure game. COOL! Oh how COOL! HA HA HA! COOL!”
A young lady was screaming this while jumping up and down and clapping her hands. She and her friends weaved around the crowd for well over an hour playing it and laughing.
“ This is ****ing AWESOME! ”
This player ran up to us while we were about ready to take down the game. We had to stop to let him play it.
