All About the Filth Fair

Filth Fair is a great little word puzzle game that we've been producing for the Wellcome Trust to tie in with their 

Dirt season

.  It's been developed by 

Toytek

.  The game is for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and the Web (as a Flash game).  Here's a screenshot from the game:

The best way to see the game is to play it!

Filth Fair Web Version

There is also a Facebook fan-page here, http://on.fb.me/filthfair. The aim of the game is to find and uncover 331 hidden words from within a huge (and real, not digital) detailed and amazing painting by cult artist Mike Wilks.   Here is a preview trailer for the game:

http://www.toytek.co.uk The Filth Fair was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust as part of their Dirt Season. Running from March to September 2011, the Dirt Season will feature events at special dirty locations including the Eden Project, Glasgow, Glastonbury and other summer festivals as well as a major exhibition 'Dirt: The filthy reality of everyday life' at Wellcome Collection.

And some fun blurb written for the game:

Roll Up! Roll Up! The Filth Fair is Coming to Town!

For many months now Wellcome and Toytek have been building an experience that explores the issue of 'Dirt'. Yes, Dirt!  As part of the upcoming season by the Wellcome Trust, a veritable cornucopia of delights especially prepared for your delectation and amusement (and disgust!) is currently under construction.  Once completed in March this year, the Filth Fair game will be unleashed to infect the delicate sensitivities of gentle-folk.  This game takes the form of an “eye Pad”, “eye Phone” or “eye Pod Touch” iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and alsotelegraphonic web game of hidden words and meanings. Central to this gaming experience is a huge painting by Mike Wilks, a noted and famous artist for his 1886 1986 bestselling book ‘The Ultimate Alphabet’.  This game has over 300 hidden words buried in objects.  The player's task is to find and identify all the words. It can be done via cryptic clues, descriptive clues or word-substitution.  Prizes and awards, not to mention acclaim, awaits those who can identify all of the objects within the Filth Fair.  Entrance to the Filth Fair will be free!  Visitors are advised to bring an active curiosity and a strong stomach.

Also of interest to the many visitors is the display of craftsmanship that has gone into the creation of the Filth Fair.  The central painting is not some digital-virtual hocus-pocus – oh no!  The central painting is a real painting, painted by a real painter!  Oh yes, this marvel has been rendered using non-digital paint on a non-virtual canvas in a real London studio.  Be ready to marvel at the “real made digital” before your very eyes!

Those curious to see the many sights and puzzles of the Filth Fair and those wishing to compose strong disapproving letters to their local newspaper about it's imminent arrival are advised to follow the Wellcome “Twitter” musings http://twitter.com/wellcometrust and/or to sign up to the “Face Book” page;http://on.fb.me/filthfair

Previews We had previews in Gamezebo, Pocket Gamer, 9cheats.com, ursegames.com, Touchaholics and Metro:

Filth Fair in Metro

Making of Filth Fair Video We also produced a short film about the creative process going from a physical paintning by Mike Wilks to a digital game. This was featured by Pocket Gamer, Design Week and on the Wellcome Collection site.  Here is the video:

Post-launch

Once the game came out, a few rejections by Apple over content while getting passed became news about the app (and also here too).  We also got reviews at Gamezebo and on 148apps.  We got a great 9/10 review on the blog NiveOverTen. There is also a big article about the game at the Wellcome blog, looking at how the idea came to be:

We wanted to create game that everyone could explore at their own level, and looked long and hard to find the right people with the right approach. What emerged from this process is a puzzle/trivia word game developed by Guildford-based developers Toytek. They had already received a degree of acclaim for their work on The Ultimate Alphabet app, so we took the core idea for this game and made it, well, dirtier.

The final result is an amazing central image, which comes from a real painting by cult artist Mike Wilks. The richness of the image meant that we could place objects in the image that were also in the exhibition, so linking the two experiences. Mike took ideas and objects from the Wellcome Library (including objects that are in the Dirt exhibition) and worked them into a collage of themes and colours. Being able to make these part of a game is especially nice because much of the content we consume nowadays is created and delivered in the digital realm.

Straight after launch the game went to No.1 in the US iTunes Store for Education and Trivia.  In the UK it was 24 and 13 for the same categories.  It got a great write up in Design Week:

It’s a captivating image that you could pore over for hours, even without the competitive element, and a great way to get people engaged with the exhibition’s theme and objects

Filth Fair Announced!

We're really pleased to be able to go public with the news that the Filth Fair is coming!

This is the game we've been producing for the Wellcome Trust:

Filth Fair gets ready to dirty up the App Store this March

Updated Feb 9, 2011, 10:15am

Nobody likes filth. It’s dirty, icky, and often downright disgusting. But the folks at Wellcome Trust? They’re celebrating it. Starting in March, the Wellcome Trust will spend more than five months showcasing the subject of filth in their upcoming “Dirt Season,” a series of special events and releases all revolving around our relationship with grime. One such release is the upcoming hidden object game Filth Fair for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Read more: http://www.gamezebo.com/iphone-games/filth-fair/preview#ixzz1Dgfwm29c

In addition to this, there is also a preview over on Pocket Gamer:

Filth Fair is a hidden words and meanings game set inside a huge painting by Mike Wilks, an artist famous for his best-selling 1986 book The Ultimate Alphabet.

Your task is to find and identify over 300 words buried inside numerous objects. Cryptic, descriptive, and word-substitution clues are on hand to aid you, with prizes, awards, and acclaim awaiting the best players.

According to Wellcome, Filth Fair has been created with the highest craftsmanship and without, "digital-virtual hocus-pocus."

Filth Fair will be available to play for free on iPhone, iPad, and online some time in March.

The Future of Gaming in 2011

Auroch Digital's Tomas Rawlings takes a look at what the future holds for gaming in 2011:

Transmedia is the idea of a media experience that transcends one platform. More often than not it is the story that lives across different media forms. I don’t just mean say a PS3 port of a PC game, but a game that offers a PS3 experience and a PC experience that together combine to make something even bigger. This can be cross-media too; so games into TV, films into books. Again to be truly Transmedia, the experience has to be extended and built upon and not just mirrored. This idea has been around for some time now, but this year I think we’ll see it really start to grow. So take the example of Deus Ex Human Revolution – where the story exists in the game and in a novel…

To read the full article, click here.

Our Work with the Wellcome Trust

We're happy to say that we have been commissioned by the Wellcome Trust as  consultants on computer games.   The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation with an endowment of about £13 billion which it uses primarily in funding biomedical research to improve human and animal health.  For example the Trust co-funded the decoding of much of the human genome.  Another example of an interesting project it has undertaken is  digitising back issues of important medical journals then making them freely available. Part of the Trust's work is also about enabling the public to explore and become involved with biomedical science, its future directions, its impacts on society and the ethical questions that it brings, and that's where our work comes in.  Games are a great means of engaging people that gets them thinking and interacting, but does not bash them over the head with the issue.

We're also happy to announce that we have just signed a second contract with Wellcome to produce their first game around the issue of 'Dirt', working with Toytek as the developer. We're excited about both projects and will keep you posted!

£30,000 People Award for Interesting Games Ideas

Auroch Digital is working with the Wellcome Trust and TIGA (the Independent Game Developers Association) to promote the Wellcome Trust's people awards - which are great news and a good opportunity if you are a small development studio looking to do something different:

People Award £30K Grants available for small games projects that explore the impact of biomedical science.

The Wellcome Trust, the second largest charitable foundation in the world, has a small grants scheme that enables you to explore the impact of biomedical science on society, its historical roots, effects on different cultures, or the ethical questions that it brings. Games are a great platform for exploring these issues and we invite proposals using this medium as we're interested in what ideas you may have. The project aims to encourage people of all ages and from all walks of life to consider, question and debate the key issues of now and the future. We want people to be informed, inspired and involved. The People Awards support projects that aim to achieve at least one of the following:

* stimulate interest, excitement and debate about biomedical science through various methods * support formal and informal learning about biomedical science * reach new audiences not normally engaged with biomedical science, as well as continuing to target existing audiences * examine the social, cultural, historical and ethical impact of biomedical science * encourage new ways of thinking about biomedical science * encourage high quality interdisciplinary practice and collaborative partnerships * investigate and test new methods of engagement, participation and education.

Applicants can apply for up to £30 000, for projects lasting a maximum of three years.

Organisations might include: museums and other cultural attractions; arts agencies; production companies; broadcast media; schools; local education authorities; universities and colleges; youth clubs; community groups; research institutes; the NHS; and science centres.

Partnership projects (between different people and organisations, e.g. scientists and ethicists, educators and artists) are welcomed. It is suggested that a possible approach is to find an organisation (e.g. science centre, museum, NHS trust, educational establishment, research department etc) and/or a scientist/s currently working in biomedical areas - then submit a joint proposal to make a game and/or interactive project. We would expect the resulting project to be distributed for free.

Please note: Standard health education and promotion projects, or projects dealing purely with non-biomedical sciences, are not eligible. In addition applicants must be based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland and the activity must take place in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. Finally, applicants need to have enough experience to demonstrate that they can deliver the project to a high standard. Deadlines:

* 29th October 2010 * 28th January 2011

There is more information including applications forms, lists of past applications etc online: http://bit.ly/peopleaward

Any questions and queries can be directed to; people@wellcome.ac.uk - however please check the website for answer before emailing questions to us.

Auroch Digital @ the Pervasive Media Studio, Bristol

Tomas writes:

We're now working on a couple of interesting projects I hope to be able to blog about very soon. I'm going to be based some of the time (and other times in London...) at the PM (PM as in Pervasive Media) Studio in Bristol's harbourside.

There are lots of interesting people and projects going on there and when I chatted to them about office space I was really impressed with the vibe around collaboration being the key there. As a resident you have to aggregate your skills into the pool. Looking forward to a swim there...

Welcome to Digitality! Welcome to Interaction!

Welcome to Auroch Digital!  We're a new company offering consultancy, project management and gameplay evaluation services.  There is much more about us and who we are and what we do here. We look forward to working with you!

In the meantime... here is a video of Auroch Digital's Tomas Rawlings giving a walk-through of the recent top selling Star Wars: The Battle for Hoth game on iPhone he designed...