Spheres of Influence

“Do what you can in the time available” - Paul Raymond, teacher and founder of the Northwest School

The "Spheres of Influence" is a multiplayer augmented reality (AR) game designed for folks to come together, talk, and play around themes of sustainable development. It's made for up to five players. It's best played outdoors in large flat areas like a grassy field.

First, players are asked to select what they think should be the #1 priority out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Then that priority becomes a virtual goal post in the field. 

A Earth ball falls from the sky. The game's objective is to push the Earth in the direction you think we should be going. The other players have competing goals so they may become blockers. The game is designed to create asymmetric goals to create conflict, and it's up to the players to negotiate what should be the priority. 

• "Should we concentrate on X goal?" 
• "Or should we spend equal amounts of time on each?"

This game may sound familiar. The original "Earthball" game for the New Games Movement in the late 60s/early 70s inspired this game. The New Games Movement partially came out of frustration of the violence and conflict of the Vietnam War. They were looking for playful activities that were non-violent and kinder. Earthball was designed so that players could continuously play. They were tasked to roll it from one edge of the field to another. Players could switch teams, and there was no "win" state.

an historical perspective of the New Games Foundation (deepfun.com)

We are in a similar period of civil unrest both nationally and internationally. It's time again to get together, play through our differences, and see how much we have in common.

Each of us is a small sphere of influence, but those can add to a larger collective influence.

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Developed by Todd Little

©2022

Fonts

  • Rubik Moonrocks

  • Fredoka One

2D Assets

   • Joystick Pack by Fenerax Studios

3D Assets

  • Modified “Soccer Goal” by davimfs7

  •“Planet Earth Free” by headwards

Code/Tools

  • Lightship ARDK by Niantic

  • Normcore Multiplayer by Normal

  • Shapes by Freya Holmér

  • Movement Tutorials by Jasper Flick

Audio

• SFXs made in JSFXR

 • Music composed in Figure

Thanks to the support from my family, friends, my Fair Worlds crew, and all the organizers of Indiecade Climate Jam 2022