“Why Downpour is a great alternative to constantly scrolling through doom and gloom content: I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of games centered around domesticated animals.”
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Last week, on a crowded train from Frome to London, I pulled out my phone and decided to do something other than mindlessly scrolling through social media. Instead, I created a simple game where the player had to correctly recognize the Big Ben tower of Westminster Palace in a photo. The experience was so immersive that the journey seemed to pass by quickly.
The application I utilized to construct my work of art was called Downpour, developed by lone coder v Buckenham. It was recently released on both the App Store and Google Play, and is an user-friendly program that allows you to create games using your own photos. You simply need to compile a collage of images, insert text, and save it as a page. Then, you can add more pages and connect them together to form your game. Transparent boxes on the screen act as hyperlinks – for instance, if you use a picture of Westminster, you can draw a box around the Elizabeth Tower. When the player touches it, they will be directed to a page that reads “Congratulations, you have discovered Big Ben”.
After uploading your game to the server, other Downpour users can access it. Alternatively, you can generate a URL so that others can easily play the game online by copying the link into their browser. It is similar to visiting a website.
Currently, there is an abundance of entertaining Downpour projects ready to be played. Many individuals have created games featuring their pets, presenting players with the task of spotting their beloved feline or canine in photographs. Others have developed elaborate adventure games. Buckenham conceived the concept while attempting to turn hand-drawn illustrations into a game. While making the images was pleasurable, the process of making them interactive with technology was exasperating. She then considered: since we all possess these efficient and user-friendly computers in our pockets at all times, why not utilize them to create straightforward games?
Buckenham has had an interesting, atypical career in game development so far. She worked at Niantic, the creator of augmented reality games such as Pokémon Go and Ingress, and before that at Sensible Object, the creator of the technologically enhanced board game, Beasts of Balance. But she’s also made interactive toys, including Cheap Bots, Done Quick!, a tool for making automated Twitter bot accounts such as @infinite_scream and @softlandscapes.
“I view games as a component of a broader scope of innovative technology and interactive media. Adventure game developers Twine and Bitsy have been a source of inspiration for me. I’ve always been drawn to technology that is interactive in nature, where you can interact with it and it responds in return. Games are just one aspect of this, as creative tools also play a significant role. There are also things that don’t neatly fit into either category. I am intrigued by things that blur the lines between two distinct categories.”
The term “messy” is frequently used in reference to the Downpour games, which possess a charmingly disordered quality. The use of peculiar photos, fonts, and unconventional concepts reminds me of the early days of the internet’s widespread popularity. During this time, individuals utilized platforms like Angelfire and Geocities to create basic, individual websites using stock images, questionable fonts, and animated icons.
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According to Buckenham, the emergence of websites such as MySpace and Facebook, also known as Web 2.0, brought about a sense of organization. This was not necessarily because it was what users were seeking, but more so to appear professional and mature in front of investors. However, people actually enjoy chaos and strive to create as much chaos as possible within the limited space provided by platforms like X and Instagram. Therefore, Downpour allows them to freely express themselves and create a unique connection between their pages.
Downpour effectively takes advantage of our ingrained smartphone habits. We are accustomed to capturing photos and utilizing straightforward editing tools to improve them; we are familiar with adding text; and anyone who has used TikTok will be well-versed in editing and sharing content. Buckenham explains that while she plans to continue expanding the capabilities of Downpour, she also wants to maintain its immediacy. Her hope is that Downpour will serve as a starting point for users to experiment with, and then eventually progress to utilizing more complex tools to take their creations further. She adds that Downpour allows for exporting games, incorporating new functions through Javascript coding, and hosting them elsewhere, emphasizing that the most effective tools exist within a larger ecosystem.
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At the present time, it is intriguing to observe how individuals utilize Downpour. It provides us with small peeks into their personal lives and living spaces. According to Buckenham, it was surprising to see that many of the initial games centered around people’s pets. However, as demonstrated by the evolution of creative digital tools and games in the last 50 years, it is impossible to anticipate how they will be utilized – and that is what makes it enjoyable, in Buckenham’s opinion.
I find great pleasure in witnessing the creations of others that are sentimental, humorous, or visually appealing, knowing that they would not have come to be without my contribution in providing a tool. This is a strong and meaningful emotion.
Source: theguardian.com
