selectparks - Bordergames - Decompressing Lavapies

While in Madrid I'm catching up with this interesting bunch to talk over a project of theirs currently in development.

Both game and workshop toolkit, 'Bordergames' is an attempt to provide a forum for young immigrants in the area to review and nurture their socio-political environment using a virtual reconstruction of Lavapies, their local square.

In this way the Bordergames crew are making both a site and player-specific game; transforming Lavapies into an in-game 'stage' for exploring scenarios and sharing information that strengthens the sense of community in their local environment.

FYI The engine they chose is the open-source and portable Crystal Space with all modelling done in the powerful Blender.

From the project site (and translated by the lovely Marta)

The objective is to build a tool, in the form of a video game, which permits the youngsters to develop an expressive and organisational autonomy in order to portray themselves and the present state of their community, in an environment in which their cultural traditions mingle with the urban context in which they currently live. In turn, Bordergames will function as an instrument of political, social and cultural coordination and communication, in order to generate a sense of community and to share useful information with a wider audience through the game.

More from me on this next week!