Platform · open for games

The Algorithm

A two-metre black cabinet with one big motorised lever that pushes back. Players arm-wrestle it. No buttons.

The Algorithm: a black, coffin-shaped cabinet with a glowing screen and LED strip, installed on a porch at night.
The Algorithm, installed on a porch.
Submit a game for it Read the API Download the devkit

What it can do

Lever
One big lever on a 600 mm rail, and the only control. Your game reads where it is and sets how hard the motor pushes back, up to about 1000 N. It feels like arm-wrestling. Position 0.0 (left) to 1.0 (right), plus the end stops. Motor torque ±100%. ctx.slider, ctx.hw.motor
Screen
An ordinary monitor, 1280 × 720 at 60 fps. The cabinet's frame covers the edges, so keep anything important inside the middle 1024 × 558. Draw with pygame. ctx.screen, ctx.renderer
Lights
A strip of 288 colour LEDs in a glowing tube. Use a ready-made mood (calm, chaos, victory and more) or set any LED to any colour. ctx.hw.leds
Sound
A speaker for sound effects, music and short video clips. It is quiet and muffled, so don't rely on speech. ctx.play_sound, ctx.play_video
Microphone
After a game, players can leave a short voice comment. You can ask your own question too, like “Say the name on your tombstone”. It's transcribed for you. ctx.record_feedback
Computer
A modest laptop inside: 2-core Intel i7 (2013), 16 GB, built-in graphics, Ubuntu. Aim for smooth 2D, not heavy 3D. Bundle your pictures and sounds with the game; the internet connection isn't guaranteed. Python 3.12 and pygame-ce 2.5. Full specs
Your stats
Every play is counted for you: plays, scores, how long people stayed, and their voice comments, on a private dashboard. ctx.event

See it played

Arm-wrestling the lever. It resists up to 1000 N.
The Algorithm in action on the porch.

What a visit looks like

Every player goes through the same four screens, shown here with Death Dodger. Tap one to see it full size.

  1. Select screen: the cabinet's chooser showing four games, with Death Dodger highlighted and the prompt move lever to choose 1. Select screenPlayers pick a game with the lever.
  2. Game Intro screen: Death Dodger's title screen, a drawn portrait of an old man with a Start arrow and an All ages rating badge 2. Game introYour name, how to play, and the age rating.
  3. Game play: Death Dodger, an old man with a cane walking along a path toward a tombstone 3. Game playYour game, one to three minutes.
  4. User Voice Comment: a recording timer and the prompt say the name on your tombstone, with Save or Cancel 4. Voice commentThen back to the select screen.

Example games

Hello World
The smallest possible game, about 30 lines. Push the lever right to win, left to quit. It comes in the devkit, ready to copy. Read the code
Death Dodger
A complete game that runs in public, by Josh Whitkin. The lever gets harder to push as your character ages, past players' tombstones stay in the graveyard, and it asks for a voice comment at the end. Full source on GitHub

On The Algorithm now

Who plays

Passers-by who walk up with no instructions, mostly Australian and Asian college students, often in groups. A sitting is usually one to three minutes. Many don't speak English as a first language, and nobody reads a paragraph. So make the first five seconds explain themselves, say it in a few big words readable from two metres, and never leave a player stuck.

Build for it

  1. Read the API. It's one page. A game is one Python class with a run(ctx) method, and a short game.yaml.
  2. Download the devkit and play your game on your own computer. The mouse or arrow keys stand in for the lever.
  3. Submit it. We check it loads and runs, then get back to you.

Other platform: Fingerdance, a robot finger that dances with you (coming soon for developers).