Alt+Ctrl Games

Note that we are in a different location today!
Room Q101, Väre

Alternative controller games (often called ALT+CTRL games or some variations of the spelling) are games that are played with experimental controllers beyond mouse, joystick, and game controllers. Usually, these controllers are built by the artists/designers/developers themselves.

Sometimes thes games are also played on an experimental output device beyond a normal screen, such as LED lights or mechanical machines.

I am presenting this idea as the start of the sensor week to hopefully make you look at everyday objects in a different way. What kind of sensors could be used to convert the interactions to signals that can be read with a microcontroller?

ALT+CTRL games and making playful interactions are not somehow new although the term has only been used since 2014 or so. Artists have been creating interactive and playful artworks for decades. And there have been experimental controllers developed directly in the games industry (Nintendo Power Glove, Arcade Games). The term has been coined to describe this practice where the focus is on games instead of interactive installation art.

Examples #

Matti Niinimäki & Pasi Rauhala #

Robin Baumgarten: Line Wobbler #

Robin Baumgarten | More information

AaltoXFlow (2018) #

Caleb Rugg and Bryant Hoban: Global Warning (2018) #

Jung Huh and Izzan Bacharrudin Soedarsono: Line of Light (2018) #

More information

alt.ctrl.GDC #

The alt.ctrl.CDG is a specific category of the Game Developer’s Conference that showcases alternative controllers for games. The deadline for 2025 submission is on December 6, 2024.. Please apply to the conference if the work you do in this class seems relevant to the topic.

How (not) to get hit by a self-driving car #

Mechbird #

Mechbird | Tatiana Vilela Dos Santos

Tatiana also has a YouTube channel where she presents lots of ALT+CTRL projects.

Lieven van Velthoven | Room Racers #

Other resources #

Deliverables for Week 2 #

See the landing page for this week