Ortgeist

Kami, genius loci, Manitou, ortgeist, countless human cultures recognize and name the spirits of places. But when a place is destroyed, what happens to its spirit? When a Chicago apartment is bulldozed, the domestic spirits of its furniture move into Jackson Park, where they come into conflict with the spirits that already inhabit the park. Guided by a furniture-worshipping cult, players must determine the fate of the park and its otherworldly inhabitants. Using furniture and household objects, a location-based soundwalk, puzzles, origami, and live events, Ortgeist seeks to bring the spirits of Jackson Park to life. During each of the game's three acts, players inhabit, explore, and play games in a new set of "rooms" that the domestic spirits have created throughout the park. Each act culminates in an open-scripted live event that allows players to actively intervene in the spirits' conflict: a dinner party, a tea ceremony, and a final creative act whose nature is left up to the players themselves. The spirits of Ortgeist, at once familiar and alien, invite players to reexamine their own daily habits and rituals; intervene creatively in everyday spaces; and experience the ordinary with a new sense of wonder.

Navigation

There are many paths for exploring Ortgeist. The simplest is to follow the player as they progress along the three act structure. For the more analytic reader, the page also includes a theoretical reflection on the game's design, a summary of the play mechanisms we were interested in, and an exploration of sound as one of our games central senses.

Rabbit Holes and Rabbits

Early one morning, commuters and less frequent travelers pass through Jackson Park. Perhaps some are there simply to enjoy the park, but most have another destination in mind. They notice a dining room table sitting atop a bridge. Over the next few seconds, their minds come up with a list of 5-10 plausible reasons it could be there. Then they forget. In the days to follow, pieces of furniture pop up around the park and the surrounding area. A rug appears under the table, and a china cabinet beside it. A refrigerator materializes under the Metra tracks. There is a toilet in the middle of Perennial Park. Some people write it off in their heads as a bizarre Hyde Park art instillation. Others hypothesize that a hasty move led to improper furniture disposal. There are a few people who see a pattern and want to understand it.

For those who are brazen enough to invade and search the spaces, numerous documents may be located. Inside the china cabinet is a set of crinkled, but intact origami silverware. Unfolding the origami reveals passages from The Gospel of Genius Loci. An internet search on the contents of the origami leads players to a website run by the Cult of the Genius Loci. Other discoverable documents include a cult member's observations on the bathroom furniture in Perennial Park (located within a medicine cabinet), and a pile of papers under a refrigerator magnet beneath the tracks. The former can provide players with a Facebook contact by the name of Golvin, while the latter contains a "business card" with cult contact information.

For those players who do not feel comfortable in potentially violating the sanctity of the spaces they have stumbled across, there are other ways to get involved. Players who visit the spaces at night may find a man or woman clad in shower curtains, or sporting pillowcase headwear, attempting to interact with the furniture in a variety of ways (i.e. speaking to it, utilizing it, etc.) Interacting with these strange people will earn players cult literature.

Additionally, a cult member will be stationed in an old armchair at a street corner on the University of Chicago campus, handing out cult pamphlets and spewing genius loci-related propaganda. All cult literature will provide players with a link to the cult website, as well as the opportunity to join an email list to learn about cult meetings and events.