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This is what a one-dimensional video game looks like

This is what a one-dimensional video game looks like

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You ask for longer games, you get a longer game

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At the Game Developers Conference, countless lectures and panels rap on the depth of video games. Line Wobbler isn't interested in depth per se — or width, for that matter. The one-dimensional dungeon crawling adventure is played on a single, lengthy row of LED lights. Controlled by the spring of a shoe tree, a green dot moves up the path, completing a stage when it reaches the end of the rope. Enemies, represented by red dots, can be dispatched by wobbling the shoe tree, which releases a length of some sort of artillery — it's tough to say when you're working with a handful of dots. The game has obstacles, a boss battle, and a colorful victory lap for those who complete it.

Like Butt Sniffin' Pugs, Line Wobbler is part of ALT.CTRL.GDC, the Game Developers Conference showcase focusing on alternative controls for video games. Creator Robin Baumgarten doesn't currently have plans for a traditional release, as the lights can run upwards $200, but says he's looking into other ways to make the game available to potential players. I like to imagine the Empire State Building's new lighting system being put to good use with a couple rounds of one-dimensional action.