Alan Zucconi

ACCELERUNNER

The game

ACCELERUNNER is a local multiplayer game about running and jumping. No, seriously: you HAVE to RUN and JUMP in this game! When you RUN you RUN, when you JUMP you JUMP!

If you have ever wondered how Mario is felling… well, now you know it.

The controller

ACCELERUNNER was initially designed to run on a custom made armband. The game is now working on mobile devices, which have all the necessary sensors and wireless capabilities. A companion app is running on the phone, using data from the gyroscope and accelerometer to detect movement patterns. An adaptive algorithm ensures a fair gameplay, balancing the running speed according to a player’s effort.

The main game runs on a computer, which communicates with the mobile devices via a dedicated wireless hot-spot. The devices don’t need any pairing since everything is handled in the background via multicast discovery.

Despite being a running game, ACCELERUNNER has been designed to be accessible also to players with mobility impairments, such as wheelchair users.

The idea

Standard alternative controllers (?) suffer from their low replicability. Custom devices are, in fact, hard to distribute to the public, strongly reducing their ability to spread. ACCELERUNNER solves this issue, running directly on a mobile device which has all the functionalities of an Arduino Yun.

ACCELERUNNER is the perfect example of how repurposing mobile technology provides alternative ways to create original controllers, yet remaining accessible to the public.

The characters

ACCELERUNNER features iconic characters from some of the most jump-y and run-y indie titles.

 nidhogg
Nidhogg		 bear
FIST OF AWESOME		 mcpixel
McPixel
thomas
Thomas Was Alone		 Canabalt
Canabalt		 OLLIOLLIGUY
OlliOlli

Other media

  • https://vine.co/v/OhTQDVj5OWJ
  • https://vine.co/v/Oht3Zjthvr2
IMG_20141026_101218 IMG_20141025_145532
IMG_20141025_144411 IMG_20140926_164700

Awards and nominations

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  • Abertay University – The Jump game jam award: “Game most likely to prevent heart disease”
  • EGX London 2014 / Leftfield collection – Official Selection
  • GameCity 9 – Official Selection
  • Droidcon 2014 – Official Selection
  • PGConnect 2014 London – Official Selection
  • Scenario Bar / Loading Bar / London Game Space – Official Selection

Credits

  • Alan Zucconi (programming, networking)
  • Nicoll Hunt (art, additional programming)
  • Gregor Fletcher (music)

Special thanks to:

  • Abertay University
  • Kieran Hall
  • Adam Saltsman (Adam Atomic)
  • Mike Bithell
  • John Ribbins
  • Mikołaj Kamiński (Sos Sosowski)
  • David Hayward
  • Mark Essen
  • Louise James
  • Vile Films
  • One More Go

ACCELERUNNER