Iconoscope

Iconoscope, a game developed under the C2Learn framework, aims to foster the creativity of a young target audience in formal or informal educational settings. At the core of the Iconoscope design is the creative, playful interpretation of word-concepts via the construction of visual icons. In addition to that, the game rewards ambiguity via a scoring system which favors icons that dichotomize public opinion.

The game is played by a group of players, with each player attempting to guess which of the concepts provided by the system is represented by each opponent’s created icon. Through the social interaction that emerges, Iconoscope prompts co-creativity within a group of players; in addition, the game offers the potential of human-machine co-creativity via computer-generated suggestions to the player’s icon. Iconoscope can also be played online, where instead of players attempting to outguess each other, such guesswork is performed asynchronously by a larger pool of Iconoscope users. This enables a broader appeal and a chance of stimulating the creativity of a broader userbase (in an attempt to achieve communal creativity).

Antonios Liapis

Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta

C2Learn, www.c2learn.eu