11 – 20 PROJECT GROUP

The Curse of the Pharaohs

#labyrinthsofthemind – games within games

Games, especially those played on the sports field as well as those played on boards or screens, have their roots in battles, epic struggles and arduous journeys. Games are also about memory and we can, rather surprisingly, remember games played in our childhood. It is this aspect of games that I find most interesting.

I am currently working on a game with strong elements of childhood recollections that aims to stimulate memories stored deep in the mind, wondering if life is not just another game being played out on a bigger board.

Graphics from The Curse of the Pharaohs
Graphics from The Curse of the Pharaohs, a 2D adventure game in the early stages of production [Cat: 0000, The Curse of the Pharaohs, / 1280 x 720 pixel, Unity, 2010]

The Circle Line

#perpetualmotion – endless cycles

South Kensington Station
South Kensington Station

London’s underground train network, better known as The Tube, is an amalgamation of several different railway companies incorporated into a unified body under public ownership in the 1930s. The identities of the constituent companies are still very evident today in the style of stations, the names of the lines and the construction of the tunnels. One of those lines, the Circle Line, was unique in that until it was broken in 2009 it ran as its name suggests in a circle.

circle-line-old-mapAn early map of the Circle Line with the initials of various railway companies

I became fascinated by the idea of a journey without a beginning or an end when I frequently used the line during my student days, often commencing my journeys at South Kensington after leaving the Snake Pit (a public house in the station) and riding round in a full circle before heading off home.

Currently I am transferring the photographs I took at the time and used in a slide projector audio-visual piece to a web friendly video format