SO yesterday, I visited this museum called “No pain, No Game” in downtown Frankfurt Germany. This is the Museum of Communication. This museum makes art physically tangible beyond your comfort zone. The museum features, A computer game that penalizes errors with genuine pain, The world’s smallest social network, real life 3D version of Pinball, and if it wasn’t already interesting enough, A maze game used with an 8Ball that is magically moved by singing. The featured video/image is of me playing the main attraction, “No pain No Game.” Before you play the game, You must me 18 years or older, and you must be aware that you are playing at your own risk. There is a sign right next to the game that says “Play at you own risk. You must be 18 years or older to play or have parent/guardian present.” If that doesn’t frighten you then I suppose having “Pain Station” written in Bold print as the header should do the trick. Of course, I was not going to allow these precautionary measures presented by the museum to frighten me. The point of this game is rather contradictory and often times can prove to be counterintuitive. You are playing a game of classic Pong. Where the ball goes back and forth and each player has a line/board to redirect the ball in the opposite direction. In regular Pong if the ball goes past your opponent’s board, then you score a point. In this game as the game goes on you acquire these Boxes behind your board and each represent a different type of pain. Heat, shocking/electricity, and last but definitely not least (actually the most painful) the whip. If the ball hits one of these boxes the pain is delivered to you. In the beginning the shock and heat are not very noticeable, but as the game goes on it proves to make a big difference. The game has different obstacles I.e., If the ball hits the boxes in the middle the ball can go faster, or the ball can multiply into 6, and it can make a wall in the middle so the ball come back faster and your reaction time becomes shorter. The counterintuitive part is each player must place their left hand on these two buttons and you give pressure to start the game. If you left your hand, then you lose the game and it means basically “you could not handle the pain”, BUT the only way to score points if the ball hits one of your boxes and pain is dealt. If your opponent lifts his hand, then you win, but chances are you won’t get a very high score if you opponent can’t handle the pain. In actuality, the best way to get a high score is play the game once, and make sure you and your opponent are not wimps. It was a very enjoyable game. This trip orchistrated by the Goethe institut was definitely a memorable and fun one. I’ve noticed museums in Germany are very different from the United States. In Germany there are more Guides/Tour workers so they can help you with your experience in the museum. In the United States they have everything written out for you to read or a video for you to watch and this takes the passion out of your personal experience. I want to be told a story by a person with enthusiasm and charisma. Of course I’m not sure if every museum in Germany is like this, but so far I have not been proven wrong. Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are ever in Frankfurt you absolutely go to this Museum. You will be given a hands on experience coupled with friendly service. That is all for this experience, and please be sure to stay tuned! I have another coming soon.
Auslander 