Experimental games from the ATLAS community and beyond? Retro arcade classics? Industry luminaries, fans and friends? Unlimited breakfast cereal and nachos? It must be time for Whaaat!? Festival, Season 7.

ATLAS associate teaching professor Danny Rankin and assistant teaching professor Anthony Pinter are gearing up for this year’s gaming gathering, now in its seventh year. We discussed the inspiration behind the event and why everyone from noobs to S-tier gamers will find something to love.

What is Whaaat!? Festival all about?
“Whaaat!?” is the reaction to amazing interactions and experiences. It is the feeling you get when your expectations are shattered. The Whaaat!? Festival is a day devoted to that feeling—through experimental games, alternative controllers and playful interactions, we want attendees to wonder, “What could possibly be next?”
 
Who is the festival for?
Anyone interested in games, alternative controllers, and weird and playful interactions will have a great time at the Whaaat!? Festival. The festival is open to the public – we just ask that attendees do buy tickets on . We have a few different ticketing levels available, including a pay-what-you-want option for folks who might have limited financial means. Every ticket includes our all-you-can-eat cereal bar and nacho bar lunch.

What inspired you to start the festival?
The inspiration started with other great festivals that we've attended and shown work at. We love play-focused events like AMAZE and Indiecade, and we wanted to bring together the games and creators we love to an audience here in Colorado. Beyond that, we hope to stretch the imagination of our attendees by featuring work that expands the boundaries of what we call "games."

Is there a theme for this year’s event?
We've embraced a "golden-era 90s sitcom" vibe for this year's promotion style, and that will  connect with some of the surprises at the festival—hidden laugh tracks, haunted televisions, maybe even a sitcom living room set? That said, this year's arcade game selections are all over the place—the theme every year is just, "Games that make you say Whaaat!?"

Speaking of keynotes, any cool special guests scheduled to present?
Yes! We have two awesome guest keynotes this year – Josh Zhong and Naomi Clark!

Josh is a Resident Researcher at ITP, an interdisciplinary program housed within the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. (Coincidentally, several of our faculty past and present are ITP alums!) Josh will also be running his wild game, First Person Josh, and his talk is scheduled for our morning keynote slot around 10:30 AM.
 
Naomi is an Associate Arts Professor and the Chair of the NYU Game Center. Naomi has worked on over 35 titles in her career, and has several published books, including the seminal A Game Design Vocabulary. Naomi’s talk is scheduled for our afternoon keynote slot around 1:00 PM.

Why should people attend?

Because what else are you going to do on Saturday in �鶹ӰԺ when it's forecasted to be 50 degrees and rainy? [Editor’s note: at the time of this interview, the weather was forecasted to be sunny and in the 60s?]

But, actually, it is a chance to play awesome games (including some that haven’t been released yet), connect with local game makers and developers, and see what is going on in the local game community here in �鶹ӰԺ. It is also a great opportunity to see the ATLAS Institute, which sponsors the festival (and whose faculty serve on the event’s organizing committee.) 

We showcase ATLAS student games and projects as part of the festival, so it is also a time for students to see the sort of work they could do if they decided to join us as majors in the Creative Design and Technology program at CU �鶹ӰԺ.

Final thoughts?
We hope you’ll consider joining us for season seven of the Whaaat!? Festival… it promises to be the best one yet!
 

Whaaat!? Festival event details

Event details and schedule:  

Tickets:

When: Saturday, November 2, 2024 from 10 AM - 4 PM

Where: Roser ATLAS Center, 1125 18th St., �鶹ӰԺ, CO

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ATLAS Teaching Assistant Professor Danny Rankin discusses design, logo and branding on the Feb. 2 episode of Donuts, Design & Debate, a podcast about design from the creators of SketchUp Talk. 

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Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game controllers, physically mining for cryptocurrency and manic pizza, candy and gold stock trading over the phone: These are the concepts behind four games developed in CU �鶹ӰԺ's ATLAS Institute that have been selected to participate in alt.ctrl.GDC 2022, a coveted showcase of new games that feature unusual controls and surprising interactions. The event is part of GDC, the world's largest professional game developers conference, which takes place March 21-25 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. A favorite stopover for thousands of GDC attendees, alt.ctrl.GDC features 15 finalists. All sharing ties to the College of Engineering and Applied Science, three of the ATLAS teams are associated with the Whaaat!? Lab and one hails from the ACME Lab. "To have four ATLAS games picked for the 15 slots in this exclusive venue—it's a remarkable accomplishment. We're going to have a lot of fun," said Matt Bethancourt, co-director of the Whaaat!? Lab and a senior teaching associate professor with ATLAS. 

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ATLAS Institute's  has returned from the virtual wilderness and will be held in person on November 14 in the Roser ATLAS building. The fourth annual event will include an arcade and conference packed with phenomenal guest speakers, bizarre games and experimental interactions. And yeah, they’re gonna have cereal again, too!

Organized by Whaaat!? Lab for Games and Experimental Interactions' co-directors  Matt Bethancourt and Danny Rankin, the dynamic duo created the festival in 2018, connecting ATLAS with the world of indie games and successfully seeding an enthusiastic community of offbeat game makers. Working around the restrictions of the pandemic last year, the Whaaat!? Festival morphed into a regular series of online events that ran throughout the academic year. 

"The festival's goal is to feature creative and original games that break the rules, inspiring delight by forging new ways to live, interact and play," says Bethancourt, a teaching associate professor with ATLAS. Putting it more succinctly, "We want to make people say 'Whaaat!?'" he says.

Two Ways to Whaaat!?: Arcade and Conference
Free and open to all, the Whaaat!? Arcade will feature specially curated tabletop and digital games for participants to play until their fingers go numb and their brains feel inspired.  The arcade will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 14, and conference organizers note, "it will be a 100 percent delight!"

Sponsored by the  and the CU �鶹ӰԺ , the Whaaat!? Conference is limited to 175 tickets at $30 and features talks, workshops, panels, lunch and a ton of fun surprises. Students may apply for  to offset the cost of attending. This year conference organizers are thrilled to welcome  and  as the event's two keynote speakers. 

"There's a whole carnival's-worth of game-related weirdness in store," says Rankin, a teaching assistant professor. "We'll be making additional announcements as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, grab those tickets, contact us with any questions, and we’ll see you in November!"

What: ATLAS Institute's fourth annual Whaaat!? Festival

Where: University of Colorado, Roser ATLAS Center, 1125 18th St., �鶹ӰԺ

When: Sunday, Nov. 14:  Conference: 10 AM – 4 PM | Arcade: 11 AM – 3 PM;

Cost: Arcade free;  Conference $30 (Register separately for each.)  

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[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEJ_59hVPgw&feature=youtu.be]

As part of the ATLAS Institute’s third annual Whaaat!? Festival, join an interactive excursion into the world of nature and video games, led by Tracy Fullerton, game designer and creator of the award-winning, "Walden, a game."  "Walden" is an exploratory narrative and simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond. Unlike action-packed video games, the game invites players to contemplate their natural surroundings, fostering inner calm and personal wellness.

During her online talk, Fullerton, a professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California and the director of the Game Innovation Lab, will discuss her design methods, encouraging participants to find inspiration in ideas and activities that have meaning to them and seeing where those ideas lead, rather than relying on standard genres and design solutions.

"It’s my hope that participants might be inspired by a game like Walden to try and develop their own philosophical games, or games that take on new ways of thinking and being in the world," Fullerton said.

The game begins during the summer of 1845 when Thoreau moved to the pond and built a cabin there. Players follow a narrative of Thoreau’s first year in the woods, surviving by finding food and fuel and maintaining their shelter and clothing while surrounded by the natural beauty of the area. Each season holds its own challenges for survival and possibilities for inspiration, offering more opportunities for reflective play than strategic challenge. The game is not an adventure of the body pitted against nature, says Fullerton, but of the mind and soul living in nature over the course of a New England year.

Tracy Fullerton (USC Photo/Roberto Gomez)

"Because the game’s systems are built around Thoreau’s ideas of simplicity, it's a very different kind of game," Fullerton said. "Rather than asking players to 'level up' and seek more money or treasure, this game asks the question, 'What if less is more in life and in games?' In Walden, if you focus on living very simply in nature, you have time to notice the details of life in the woods and be inspired by them."

In place of the in-person, all-day annual event and due to the pandemic, the Whaaat!? Festival switched to remote programming in September and is continuing with online events throughout the academic year.  Game scholars, critics, researchers, developers, designers and enthusiasts have come together online for a wide variety of events, including John Sharp discussing his book, "Works of Game," and an experimental gameplay session with Paolo Pedercini from Molleindustria.  Besides “amazing guests," the festival includes "secret game clubs, virtual pop-up arcades, a book club, as well as surprise swag by mail and more,” says Matt Bethancourt, an ATLAS senior instructor who coordinates the annual conference with his partner, Lisa Bethancourt, and ATLAS Instructor Danny Rankin. Bethancourt and Rankin co-direct the ATLAS Whaaat!? Lab for Games and Experimental Interactions.

"The festival's goal is to feature creative and original games that break the rules, inspiring delight by forging new ways to live, interact and play," says Bethancourt. "The kind of experience that makes you say, 'Whaaat!?' "  

Creatively adapting to the circumstances, this year festival-goers had two ways to participate: a free festival ticket that offered access to all of the festival’s online events, including talks, livestreams, virtual arcades and game jams; or a limited number of $13 Whaaat!? Experience subscriptions (now sold out), which included priority registration to all the festival’s online content, plus exclusive programming delivered through physical mailings and by phone, and other secret experiences.

The Whaaat!? Festival receives funding from CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Engineering Excellence Fund and the ATLAS Institute.

What: As part of the Whaaat!? Festival, join a virtual conversation with Tracy Fullerton, creator of the award-winning videogame, "Walden," an interactive excursion into nature inspired by the philosophies and ideas articulated by Henry David Thoreau in his book of the same name.

Where: Zoom. Registration required.

When: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 6 to 7pm, MST

Cost: Free

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ATLAS Institute’s third annual Whaaat!? Festival kicked off remotely on Sept. 23 with an experimental gameplay session led by Paolo Pedercini from independent game developer .  

Now the festival organizers have added another event, an Oct. 28 talk with John Sharp, author of "Works of Game," and an associate professor of games and learning in the School of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design. Everyone is welcome to the free, virtual event, but they must register.

In place of the in-person, all-day annual event, the Whaaat!? Festival has switched to remote programming that will last throughout the academic year.  Game scholars, critics, researchers, developers, designers and enthusiasts will come together online for a wide variety of events, including “amazing guests, secret game clubs, virtual pop-up arcades, a book club, surprise swag by mail and more throughout the year,” says Matt Bethancourt, an ATLAS senior instructor who coordinates the annual conference with his partner, Lisa Bethancourt, and ATLAS Instructor Danny Rankin.

“We're a scrappy group that has fun throwing things together and seeing what happens,” Bethancourt says. “This year will be no different. We've got lots of things in the works. Some may be amazing, some may be flops, but whatever the case may be, we're always glad we have people coming along for the ride.”

"The goal of the festival is to feature creative and original games that break the rules, inspiring delight by forging new ways to live, interact and play," says Bethancourt. "The kind of experience that makes you say, 'Whaaat!?' "  

Creatively adapting to the circumstances, this year festival-goers have two ways to participate: a free festival ticket that offers access to all of the festival’s online events, including talks, livestreams, virtual arcades and game jams; or a limited number of $13 Whaaat!? Experience subscriptions, which includes priority registration to all the festival’s online content, plus exclusive programming delivered through physical mailings and by phone, and other secret experiences that the organizers have in store. The year-long festival is coordinated by Bethancourt and Rankin, who co-direct the ATLAS Whaaat!? Lab for Games and Experimental Interactions. The event receives additional funding from CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Engineering Excellence Fund.

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"To the powerful, to anyone who hides behind a brand, be warned: We know what fonts you use. We've read your brand guidelines. And if you won't tell the truth, we'll steal your voice and tell it for you." These are the words ATLAS Instructor Danny Rankin ended his TEDxMileHigh talk with on Nov. 16, 2019, and they were met with enthusiastic and prolonged applause.

That won't be a surprise to anyone who has taken one of Rankin's classes. He was speaking to 5,000 instead of 50, which surely makes a difference, but he took it in stride. "It was a really positive experience," he says. "They did a very thorough job of coaching us. By the time you walk out on the stage, you know every syllable you are going to say. The whole process taught me a lot about verbal communication and keeping the attention of a large group."   

What did he speak about? In a world where most of us see between 4,000–10,000 increasingly intrusive ads a day, Rankin offers an antidote—a strategy for turning the tables, heightening awareness and having some fun at the same time. Our advice: Watch the video—it's well worth the 15 minutes!

[video:https://youtu.be/iagWhasv6cI]

Along with Rankin's invitation to speak at the TEDxMileHigh Imagine event in November, ATLAS exhibited a collection of projects in the exhibition hall outside the auditorium. The most popular project was Peter Gyory and Clement Zheng's fast-paced Hot Swap: All Hands On Deck, an award-winning, collaborative video game involving multiple, interchangeable, shared controllers. The team also brought Mechamagnets, among other projects, and curious visitors kept student volunteers, faculty and staff talking for hours. 

Rankin is the third member of the ATLAS faculty to speak at TEDxMileHigh in as many years. Instructor Arielle Hein paved the way in 2017, with "A New Way to Measure Time," and Assistant Professor Carson Bruns followed up in 2018 with "" (which has now clocked more than 620,000 views). We have no idea who will be next, but when we find out, we'll be sure to publicize it. (Now watch the video!)

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Buy! Sell!, created under the Bethancourts' creative firm, Mouse & the Billionaire, is one of 21 games to be exhibited at the 2020 Game Developer's Conference (GDC). The fast-paced, multi-player, stock-trading game uses analog telephones as game controllers, and players watch a terminal full of charts, graphs and breaking news to make split-second decisions whether to buy or sell stocks like, pizza, candy and gold. The goal is to dial the phone number for a stock and shout “Buy!” or “Sell!” before competitors; transactions affect the stock prices, and the player with the largest portfolio at the end of the trading day wins.

Matt Bethancourt and Rankin also co-direct the ATLAS Whaaat!? Lab, which explores new ways to "bring more delight to the world through games and experimental interactions." Two years ago the two also started the Whaaat!? festival in order to "geek-out with a group of like-minded game developers." This year the event attracted 250 participants, and 5280 magazine designated it as an "Editor's Pick" in its "Best things to do in Colorado in October" listing.

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Danny Rankin spoke at the TEDx MileHigh event, "Imagine" on November 16, 2019. Rankin directs the ATLAS Institute's Whaaat!?! Lab for game design and is a mentor at ATLAS’ BTU Lab.   

[video:https://youtu.be/iagWhasv6cI?si=qWEO3goVUo6rKdBC]

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