Theseus

Title : Theseus
Year: 2021

Theseus is a game on the edge between an interactive device and a reading experience. It’s a combinatorial reading that allows for the unexpected, an experience in which you not only have to read, but also construct your own path through a network of key words. The game/thesis is made up of several elements: a website to which you need to connect, a game board to plug into your computer, 14 small game pieces and an instructions guide.
The game pieces correspond to keywords and are associated with fragments of text on the website. When you position the shapes on the board according to the right combinations, the fragments come together in real time on the screen and enable you to read the text. But if you deviate from the guide, have fun exploring the labyrinth and look for bugs… Unexpected configurations are generated.

Theseus, the thesis/project for my MA diploma, questions the links between human beings and the use of algorithms that are becoming more and more part of our lives. Does the increasing automation of the world affect our autonomy and freedom ? This essay talks about social acceleration, black boxes and the trend towards gamification of the world.

This essay is a way of questioning and challenging the way in which technologies enter our lives and the restrictions they set for us, just as much as the possibilities they offer. It’s about writing a critical essay while at the same time designing an object that demonstrates that the realm of the virtual opens up new fields of experimentation.

The website only displays content if it is used with its physical user interface. The essay is therefore inaccessible without the help of the game. But in the age of the internet, players are sharing their knowledge and every game has its own online solution ! The http://theseusgame.fr/ website offers a walkthrough, a step-by-step guide to the overall architecture of the game, as well as all the solutions so far discovered.