Recess

Curated by Julia H'Doubler Feb 25, 2024

Recess is a very personal show centered around childhood games and the specific ways children interact with games. It focused on mostly online games from the early 2000s to 2010s, specifically old Adobe Flash games. The games were selected to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and memories of playing games in the computer lab when the teacher’s back was turned.

The games were set up with Powder Game at the front with keyboard and mouse controls. On the right was Giraffe Volleyball Championship 2016 with two XBOX controllers and Geometry Dash with a single-button keyboard. On the left, we had Go Morse Go! on its own table, set up with four homemade telegraph key controllers accommodating up to four players. Barbie Diamond Castle Rocks was projected onto the wall and its controls were mapped to a Guitar Hero controller.

Powder Game

Dan-Ball Powder Game is a sandbox physics simulation game. With no clear goal or direction to go in, first-time players are often unsure where to start. However, once people start to let go of the need to do something specific and just start messing around with the multitude of different materials in the game, they begin to engage in open-ended childlike play of just messing around and making things explode.

Giraffe Volleyball Championship 2016

sandwich puissant Giraffe Volleyball Championship 2016 perfectly embodies the feeling of childhood Flash games. With its silly theming and wobbly physics, it automatically makes people laugh as soon as they start playing. Additionally, the local multiplayer aspect allows for casual competition with a nearby friend, capturing the feeling of playing on the computer together in the school library.

Geometry Dash

RobTop Games Geometry Dash is a rhythm arcade game that only needs one button click to play. Its simple but addictive gameplay provides endless entertainment and replayability. Despite being single player, it is just as fun to watch someone else play or take turns trying to beat a certain level.

Go Morse Go!

Imposter Cat Games Go Morse Go! is a rhythm-based cheerleading game where the player taps out different letters through telegraph keys. The game is very simple– it provides the Morse code translations, so all the player needs to do is tap along. Since it is so low-stakes and easy to play, it takes all the pressure off the player and instead allows them to engage in the fun tactile feeling of clicking as well as the added whimsy the special telegraph key controllers provide. Using the special color-coded controllers brings the player right back to elementary science class.

Barbie Diamond Castle Rocks

Mattel, Inc. Barbie Diamond Castle Rocks is an old Flash game based on the 2008 movie Barbie & the Diamond Castle. It is essentially a reskinned Guitar Hero game, so we set it up with a Guitar Hero controller to really make the gameplay pop. The Barbie theming and catchy songs really fill that feeling of nostalgia the show tried to capture, and projecting the game on the back wall of the stage added even more fun to an experience originally intended for a small computer screen. Anyone who remembers the old Barbie website from the early 2000s was definitely excited to see this game revived, and new players got to experience a bit of the magic of y2k girlhood.