From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ken Eklund
(born May 17, 1957) is an American game and experience designer known as Writerguy. He is perhaps most famous for
World Without Oil
, an early "
serious game
" in the
alternate reality game
genre
[1]
he created and ran in 2007.
[2]
His recent projects "explore the positive social effects of collaborative experiences and open-ended, creative play.
[3]
"
Philosophy
[
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]
Eklund creates immersive games that intend to have a socially relevant, transformative effect
[4]
and to be informal learning experiences
[5]
and crowdsourcing for good.
[6]
Much of his recent
transmedia
[7]
work explores how contributing to 'authentic fictions' (real-seeming yet fictional stories) engages people directly in real-world issues by allowing them to have fun collaborating on storymaking, positive solutions and action.
[8]
By creating "barely fictional" gameful situations he creates a new kind of space for negotiating reality, where the candor afforded by interacting with fictional characters presenting the reality of social issues is seemingly more impactful than the realities themselves.
[9]
As an artist, Eklund's emphasis on response plus respect for diversity "charges notions of the 'vox pop' with an appealing edge as a tool for transformation 'from the inside'.
[10]
He speaks on how to use alternate reality experiences and other playful "what if?" spaces in pursuit of serious goals
[11]
and the potential for gamelike activities to help solve global problems.
[12]
Works
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]
- FutureCoast
(2014-2016, director)
- Rogue Squirrelbot
(2015, director/producer)
- Ruination: City of Dust
(2014, designer)
- Hiss Pop
(2012, co-creator)
- Ed Zed Omega
(2012, director/lead producer)
[13]
[14]
- Giskin Anomaly
(2010, creator/writer)
- Urgent Evoke
(2010, community lead)
- Zorop
(2010, co-creator)
- Ruby's Bequest
(2009, creator)
- World Without Oil
(2007, creator)
- Driver: Vegas
(mobile) (2006, writer)
- Marc Eck?'s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
(mobile) (2006, writer)
- In Her Shoes
(mobile) (2006, writer)
- Move It!
(2005, designer/writer)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith
(mobile) (2005, writer)
- Strange Dead Bird
(2004, creator)
- Tigo
(2003, writer)
- Two Forks, Idaho
(2002, creator)
- Mystery of the Poison Dart Frog
(2002, creator)
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
(2001, writer/designer)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger
(1995, writer/designer)
- World of Aden: Entomorph - Plague of the Darkfall
(1995, writer)
- Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse
(1994, writer)
- Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager
(1994, writer)
- Eagle Eye Mysteries in London
(1994, writer/game, character designer)
- Eagle Eye Mysteries
(1993, writer/game, character designer)
- Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed
(1992 writer)
- The Dark Queen of Krynn
(1992, writer)
- Death Knights of Krynn
(1991, writer)
- Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
(1990, writer)
Awards and honors
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"ITVS Press Release for "World Without Oil"
"
.
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
.
- ^
McGonigal, Jane (2011).
Reality Is Broken
. The Penguin Press. pp.
304
, 305, 310.
ISBN
978-1-59420-285-8
.
- ^
"LunchtimeTalk: Ken Eklund on Transmedia For Change"
.
Watershed
. Retrieved
2 September
2013
.
- ^
Weiler, Lance (March 3, 2009).
"Culture Hacker: An Interview with Ken Eklund"
.
Workbook Project
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
"ARGs in the Service of Education - interview with Ken Eklund"
.
THINKtransmedia
. 29 November 2010
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
Moller, Patrick (15 July 2009).
"15 Questions to Ken Eklund"
.
ARG-Reporter.de
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
Rees, Diane (February 3, 2012).
"Transmedia: A new instructional literacy"
.
Instructional Design Fusions
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) (May 2, 2013).
"Ken Eklund presents "Play It Live It Shape It: Exploring Authentic Fiction"
"
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
Atkinson, Sarah (2014).
Beyond the screen: Emerging cinema and engaging audiences
. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 163, 164.
ISBN
978-1-62356-637-1
.
- ^
Alston, Adam (October 6, 2015).
"Listening Post: Alternate reality games, ecology and the popular voice"
.
Contemporary Theatre Review
. Interventions
. Retrieved
July 13,
2016
.
- ^
Games For Learning Institute at NYU (June 2011).
"8th Annual Games for Change Festival"
.
gamesforchange.org
. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
Butterworth, Alex (May 2013).
"State of Play"
.
BBC Radio
. Retrieved
4 September
2013
.
- ^
Michael Andersen "Reinventing Education For The Disaffected With Ed Zed Omega"
Wired
Aug 21, 2012
[1]
- ^
Mike Janssen, "With young actors, Localore’s interactive Ed Zed Omega critiques education system" Current.org, November 2, 2012
[2]
- ^
"Corvallis man's game simulation of a global oil crisis wins a Peabody"
.
opb
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
MEDIA, MID-VALLEY (2022-06-23).
"Corvallis man wins Peabody Award"
.
Corvallis Gazette-Times
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
"Yearly Archives: 2014 | The Webby Awards"
.
www.webbyawards.com
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
"2011 MUSE Award Winners"
.
American Alliance of Museums
. 2018-05-03
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
"ITVS Interactive's World Without Oil, an Alternate Reality Game Wins "Activism" Award at SXSW Web Awards | ITVS"
.
itvs.org
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
"NEW Webby Gallery + Index"
.
NEW Webby Gallery + Index
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
"World Without Oil | Stockholm Challenge Event 2008"
. 2010-05-08. Archived from
the original
on 2010-05-08
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
External links
[
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]