Digital Debris

Embodiment, digital games & technology in Education

The pervasive mobile game for language learners hits the cobbled streets of downtown Porto.

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It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon in the big city. The sky was as heavy as lead and the rain only held back out of spite. I'd just made a breakthrough in a tough case and I was eager to follow up on a new lead.

It wasn't her I was interested in, it was the briefcase she was carrying. I knew that if I kept tabs on her for long enough eventually she'd lead me right to them, so I kept to the shadows and stayed as close as I could.  There was no way I was going to let this one get away.

I ducked beneath a stone archway as she sauntered by, so near I could have reached out and just taken it. Almost too easy, but that wasn't what I was there for. The briefcase was just my ticket to catch a bigger fish. She stopped in her tracks as if she'd sensed my presence and then tilted her head slightly to the side. Was she smiling? I got a sinking feeling that maybe I was the mouse and she was the alley cat…

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This clip illustrates some of the gameplay in action. All the footage was shot autonomously from a hidden camera inside the briefcase as the spy navigated the labyrinthine city streets on her way to meet her mysterious contact.