The Human Horse Race

This game is a prototype made as an academic project for the Playable Media subject, part of the Master's Degree of Game Design and Playful Media at Lusofona's University, in Portugal.

The intent was to create a playful game utilizing alternative controls as the input for the players, in this case we used sound.

The concept for this game was to make a typical carnival/fair game in which people from all ages could compete and enjoy. For that, we based our idea in those horse-racing games where you have to manage the horses stamina in order to reach the final line.

How to play:

In this game you are the horse though. So, you'll need to race against another player to see which of you could gather all the carrots first and bring them to the finishing line (likely over the course of multiple runs).

Your "stamina" will be controlled by how many carrots you'll be carrying at the same time and transmited to you via sound, so you know when to start racing or when to stop to "catch a breath".

To manage this inputs there should be a Game Master that registers how many carrots each player is carrying in order to re-adjust the sound timers. (Build in the Download Section)

You'll have restricted movements. You feet will be partially tied, your non-dominant hand will be holding your horse and your dominant hand will have a spacial glove that will impede you from utilizing your thumb. Your objective is to try and carry all of the carrots back to the starting line and pressing the button to finish.

Rules:

The are only a few rules:

• You can only use your gloved hand to catch the carrots. Neck and that same arm is allowed.
• You can't use your horse-hand/arm, mouth or pockets to help you carry or interacts with the carrots.
• You can try to knock down your opponent's carrots.
• You have to respect your timer. Go to advance, Stop to stop.

Material Needed:

• 12 carrots (6 for each player)
• A hobby-horse (toy that has a horse head in a stick)
• Large rubber band or shoe laces (to limit the players feet movement)
• A restricting glove (any type of glove that would restrict the player from using its thumb)
• 2 buttons which the players click when they finish each run of carrot delivery.