Awkward Arcade

Overview

This is a truncated version of the full story. Read all about that on the Awkward Arcade site.

I’ve been throwing the label ‘Awkward Arcade’ around for a little while now, and the original concept was quite different to what it has become. It started with the idea of taking familiar games - those that we’ve played hundreds of times - and making them more difficult to play.

How I decided to do it

It wasn’t until later on in 2015, after I had been invited to attend Digital Media Labs, when I considered that the Awkward Arcade might work well as a concept for the creation of original games. This would involve breaking down game mechanics, basing entire games around them, with specialized, per-game interfaces. What I created in the days leading up to Digital Media Labs was a prototype of The Mashing:

Finally, in 2016, I decided to create an arcade full of these games. I spent February-May developing cabinet designs, and contacting developers, and launched an arcade full of 'awkward' games. Each one of these cabinets has an Arduino inside!