Interactive Nike Running Game Takes To The Streets

The text message came that afternoon. It read: Mei L. It's Time. Grid is Waiting. Be at the Village Underground at 7:15pm tonight. Show txt for entry.

Curious. I'd responded to a friend's query via Twitter about London-based people interested in games and running. Soon after, I'd been contacted by an event organiser to chat about my experience with interactive street gaming (an activity I often produce and very much like) and running (an activity I do quite poorly and kind of detest). But, interested in running more often and having an incentive to do so, I sent along my details and then received the mysterious text. Last Thursday, I followed the instructions and made my way down to the Village Underground - home of the super cool tube car office of our friends at Inspired Flight - to find out what was up.


Along with about 100 other people, I filed into a smoke and flashing-light filled warehouse space to watch a few performances and a video on the upcoming Nike Grid game. Here's the deal. It's an all-night, all-out 24 hour running game across London from 8pm-8am on 23 April. 40 postcodes, 10 each for North, East, South and West London. You run between phone boxes in the postcode and type in a secret code to prove you did it and earn points for speed and stamina. Exact details aren't out yet, but the idea is to win your postcode for fame, glory, and hopefully bountiful prizes of Nike gear.


Pretty sweet idea. I'd love to duck out late night on 23 April, clad in all black like a deadly running ninja with a band of roving marauders to claim E2 for the win. I have visions of myself dashing through the streets, hopping fences and parked cars, dodging rival gangs, and feverishly dialing up secret codes in phone boxes like Jason Bourne with a bag full of semi-automatic weapons.

Only 2 problems.

1. I suck at running. More likely, I'd be the one huffing and puffing on the street corner shooting dirty looks at the other marathon-fit competitors speeding past me with smug smiles on their faces. But I'm trying to run more often, so I'd risk the humiliation and do it anyway, except...

2. I'll be in Paris on the 23rd of April. Not running. More likely, eating my way through a mountain of croissants.

Even though I can't play, I'm definitely going to keep an eye on the game since I'm excited to see what happens with it. I wonder how many people will play and whether you'll be able to see other people playing out on the street. I wonder whether they'll have people stationed around the game zones as random characters or helpers or authority figures. I'm envisioning live-action video game on the streets of London, but I'm also wondering if it'll be likely that you even run into any other players during the course of the evening.

But beyond the game itself, the main topic of conversation on everyone's lips was: How do we cheat? I chatted with some serious gamers from Capcom and Zoe Mode and all sorts of questions came up. What's stopping you from driving/hopping the bus/skateboarding/biking/horseback riding/unicycling while juggling flaming chainsaws instead of running? Or dispersing all your mates via text message to be at specific phone boxes throughout the evening? It's interesting to poke holes at it from a game design perspective and brainstorm ways to cheat your ass off as well as ways to prevent people from doing so. The organisers claim to have cheating covered, but I'm sure a lot of curious folks will do their best to beat them at their own game. So I'll be interested to see what happens...

Here's a brief video (of a video) from the launch event:

If you feel like taking part in a city-wide 24 hour street game, check out their Facebook page and website for more information. Time to lace up those trainers...