Ghost 'n Found

Created as part of a project of the Mauritian Order Foundation supported by the Piedmont Region, Ghost 'n Found is a site-specific cooperative gaming experience (for families, but also enjoyable solo), set in the Staffarda Abbey (Cuneo) and its village. The creation of the game was made possible through collaboration with the local Dialogart association considering its strong ties to the local community and wide historical knowledge of the site in question. Monks and bats, cats and marquises, the characters of Ghost ‘n Found tell their story intertwined with that of Borgo di Staffarda, which traces its origins back to the year 1000. Using a smartphone, each group of visitor-players will be able to set free 8 (+1) ghosts trapped in as many QR codes, thereby restoring the ghosts’ memories of the location. The characters become instrumental in the narrative of a place made primarily of the stories – real or legendary – that have built up there over time. By combining the research for the hidden codes with puzzle solving on the phone, Ghost ‘n Found offers an alternative mode of sightseeing that is playful, multimedia, and narrative. The creation of an applied game is designed to help the site involved to gain more visibility with an external audience. The project aims to benefit at many levels, like bringing people to the site, digitalizing the site and increasing the armature for retailers. A notable achievement is the reasonably light effort - in terms of design - to turn an historical site into urban game. This could be an interesting keystone to apply to similar sites.