People Watching (UK)

Watch closely and see if you can discover the stories in the crowd

There are fewer finer ways to while away time in the city than by watching people go by and wondering what their stories might be. Watching the Detectives makes sport of this activity as player try to identify and piece together the stories of actors mixed in among normal crowds.

Time: Saturday 16:00
Location: Waag Society, nieuwmarkt
#of players: 24
Duration: 60 minutes

There are fewer finer ways of whiling away time in the city than watching people go by and wondering what their stories might be. This game is based on that pursuit.

Teams of Watchers are delivered a pack of six letters. Each letter is from a friend of a Character; the friend tells the story of the Character in need and asks for a message to be delivered to them. The Watchers sit and watch people go by in a public space. Amongst the crowd are Characters, with costume, props and a small set of actions that subtly embody the individuals of these stories.

The aim of the Watchers is to identify the Characters and approach them with a scripted interaction common to all characters, which involves them handing over a team token, and a message for whichever character they think it is. If they deliver the appropriate message demonstrating correct identification, they are given a token in turn, worth 5 points for first identification and 1 point for the next two identifications. After being approached, a Character will leave the space - for 5 minutes if correctly identified, for 2 minutes if not. The team of Watchers with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Designers: Tassos Stevens and Annette Mees