Ken Eklund
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ken Eklund
| image = Portrait of Ken Eklund, Writerguy.jpg
| alt = Portrait of Ken Eklund, Writerguy
| caption = Ken Eklund in 2009
| pseudonym = Writerguy
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|05|17}}
| birth_place = San Francisco, California, United States
| occupation = Game designer, game experience designer
| alma_mater = Santa Clara University
| spouse =
| website = {{URL|www.writerguy.com}}
}}
Ken Eklund (born May 17, 1957) is an American game and experience designer known as Writerguy. He is perhaps most famous for World Without Oil, an early "serious game" in the alternate reality game genre{{cite news|title=ITVS Press Release for "World Without Oil"|url=http://www.itvs.org/about/pressroom/press-release/world-without-oil--2|work=Independent Television Service (ITVS)}} he created and ran in 2007.{{cite book|last=McGonigal|first=Jane|title=Reality Is Broken|url=https://archive.org/details/realityisbroken00libg|url-access=limited|year=2011|publisher=The Penguin Press|isbn=978-1-59420-285-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/realityisbroken00libg/page/n317 304], 305, 310}} His recent projects "explore the positive social effects of collaborative experiences and open-ended, creative play.{{cite web|title=LunchtimeTalk: Ken Eklund on Transmedia For Change|url=http://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/4178/lunchtime-talk-ken-eklund-on-transmedia-for-change|work=Watershed|accessdate=2 September 2013}} "
Philosophy
Eklund creates immersive games that intend to have a socially relevant, transformative effect{{cite web|last=Weiler|first=Lance|title=Culture Hacker: An Interview with Ken Eklund|url=http://workbookproject.com/blog/2009/03/03/culture-hacker-an-interview-with-ken-eklund/|work=Workbook Project|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=March 3, 2009}} and to be informal learning experiences{{cite web|title=ARGs in the Service of Education - interview with Ken Eklund|url=http://www.thinktransmedia.org/?q=node/142|work=THINKtransmedia|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=29 November 2010}} and crowdsourcing for good.{{cite web|last=Möller|first=Patrick|title=15 Questions to Ken Eklund|url=http://www.argreporter.de/en/2009/07/15-questions-to-ken-eklund/|work=ARG-Reporter.de|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=15 July 2009}} Much of his recent transmedia{{cite web|last=Rees|first=Diane|title=Transmedia: A new instructional literacy|url=http://instructionaldesignfusions.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/transmedia-a-new-instructional-literacy/|work=Instructional Design Fusions|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=February 3, 2012}} work explores how contributing to 'authentic fictions' (real-seeming yet fictional stories) engages people directly in real-world issues by allowing them to have fun collaborating on storymaking, positive solutions and action.{{cite web|last=British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)|title=Ken Eklund presents "Play It Live It Shape It: Exploring Authentic Fiction"|url=http://www.meetup.com/interactivenarratives/events/111104402/|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=May 2, 2013}} By creating "barely fictional" gameful situations he creates a new kind of space for negotiating reality, where the candor afforded by interacting with fictional characters presenting the reality of social issues is seemingly more impactful than the realities themselves.{{cite book|last=Atkinson|first=Sarah|title=Beyond the screen: Emerging cinema and engaging audiences.|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-62356-637-1|pages=163, 164}}
As an artist, Eklund's emphasis on response plus respect for diversity "charges notions of the 'vox pop' with an appealing edge as a tool for transformation 'from the inside'.{{cite web|last=Alston|first=Adam|title=Listening Post: Alternate reality games, ecology and the popular voice|url=http://www.contemporarytheatrereview.org/2016/vox-populi/|location=Interventions|work=Contemporary Theatre Review|accessdate=July 13, 2016|date=October 6, 2015}} He speaks on how to use alternate reality experiences and other playful "what if?" spaces in pursuit of serious goals{{cite web|last=Games For Learning Institute at NYU |title=8th Annual Games for Change Festival |url=http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2011/speakers/ken-eklund/ |work=gamesforchange.org |accessdate=4 September 2013 |date=June 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402152023/http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2011/speakers/ken-eklund/ |archivedate= 2 April 2015 }} and the potential for gamelike activities to help solve global problems.{{cite web|last=Butterworth|first=Alex|title=State of Play|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sdg2h/State_of_Play/|work=BBC Radio|accessdate=4 September 2013| date=May 2013 }}
Works
- FutureCoast (2014-2016, director)
- Rogue Squirrelbot (2015, director/producer)
- Ruination: City of Dust (2014, designer)
- Hiss Pop (2012, co-creator)
- Ed Zed Omega (2012, director/lead producer)Michael Andersen "Reinventing Education For The Disaffected With Ed Zed Omega" Wired Aug 21, 2012 [https://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/08/ed-zed-omega-rethinking-education]Mike Janssen, "With young actors, Localore’s interactive Ed Zed Omega critiques education system" Current.org, November 2, 2012
[http://www.current.org/2012/11/with-young-actors-localores-interactive-ed-zed-omega-critiques-education-system]
- Giskin Anomaly (2010, creator/writer)
- Urgent Evoke (2010, community lead)
- Zorop (2010, co-creator)
- Ruby's Bequest (2009, creator)
- World Without Oil (2007, creator)
- Driver: Vegas (mobile) (2006, writer)
- Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (mobile) (2006, writer)
- In Her Shoes (mobile) (2006, writer)
- Move It! (2005, designer/writer)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (mobile) (2005, writer)
- Strange Dead Bird (2004, creator)
- Tigo (2003, writer)
- Two Forks, Idaho (2002, creator)
- Mystery of the Poison Dart Frog (2002, creator)
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001, writer/designer)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger (1995, writer/designer)
- World of Aden: Entomorph - Plague of the Darkfall (1995, writer)
- Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse (1994, writer)
- Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager (1994, writer)
- Eagle Eye Mysteries in London (1994, writer/game, character designer)
- Eagle Eye Mysteries (1993, writer/game, character designer)
- Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed (1992 writer)
- The Dark Queen of Krynn (1992, writer)
- Death Knights of Krynn (1991, writer)
- Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990, writer)
Awards and honors
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.writerguy.com|Ken Eklund's official website}}
- [https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1314/ Ken Eklund] at MobyGames
- [https://soundcloud.com/innovation_unit/ken-eklund-speaks-to-innovation-unit-edzedomega Eklund interviewed about his practice by Fan Sissoko for Innovation Unit]
- [http://www.thedoartfoundation.tumblr.com/post/91990067108/a-look-into-the-world-of-transmedia-storytelling Molly Ebner interviews Ken Eklund for the Do Art Foundation]
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sdg2h/State_of_Play/ Eklund featured in "State of Play," BBC Radio 4]
- [http://www.gamesforchange.org/2012/10/ken-eklund-interview-ed-zed-omega/ Eklund interviewed at GamesForChange]
- [https://archive.today/20140901163009/http://castroller.com/podcasts/UpdatesInterviewsAnd/3255118 Eklund interviewed by StoryForward]
- [http://www.utsandiego.com/weblogs/balboa-park/2011/nov/12/one-year-of-balboa-parks-giskin-anomaly/ After one year: Giskin Anomaly in Balboa Park]
- [http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/games/rubys-bequest/ Ruby's Bequest at the Institute For The Future]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120205053408/http://www.wpr.org/book/070617b.html It's The End Of The World (As We Know It) on TTBOOK]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131217220448/http://www.current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/tech/tech0709itvsgame.shtml World Without Oil featured in CURRENT]
- [http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/WorldWithoutOil.pdf Cisco summary document of World Without Oil (PDF)]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eklund, Ken}}
Category:American video game designers
Category:People from San Francisco
Category:Santa Clara University alumni