As part of the Hudson 400 festivities, Waag Society, 7scenes and the John Adams Institute have created The Island; an urban mobile game that connects students in Amsterdam and New York in real time. The Island is an urban game about the shared trading history of Amsterdam and NYC.
In 2009, it's 400 years ago that Henry Hudson set sail from the Netherlands to cross the ocean in search for a way to sail through North America. He did not find a way through, but discovered a fertile land that was called Albany and which we nowadays know as New York. This historic occasion was celebrated with the NY400 Festival.
Waag Society, 7scenes and the John Adams Institute followed the footsteps of Hudson, this time using mobile technology, in the educational project The Island. The Island is an exciting game-based adventure in which players in New York and Amsterdam work together to progress. A mobile phone (equipped with GPS and internet) leads the student to the locations from Henry Hudsons times which are now landmarks in the exciting, modern city landscapes of contemporary New York and Amsterdam.
About the game
The two hour game starts with a short introduction. The students are divided into teams and receive a historic map of the city, a phone with internet and gps and a marketprice chart. The students have to find, trade and sell goods as merchants to maximise their profit and win the game. The goal is to end up with as many guilders as possible. Offcourse local goods are worth less than foreign goods, so the students have to be smart about that.
The Island offers students an innovative and exciting way to experience the city, work together with students on the other side of the ocean and learn from each others experiences in a global, urban environment. By becoming a merchant, they connect with the history that links both cities together.
In May 2009, a pilot of The Island was played. On September 12th several schools in Amsterdam and New York participated in the game which was officially opened by the mayor of Amsterdam, mister Job Cohen.