Nick Fortugno is interested in making games for those of us who aren't gamers. Why? Because once you consent to entering an immersive narrative world, you are stepping outside the reality you inhabit and opening up the possibility of exploring new ways of being and of relating to yourself, ideas, others and the world. What else allows you to do that?? 

Among many things, Nick is one of the founders of Come Out and Play, a festival that turns cities into playgrounds.  We talk about physical psychology as a tool for designing bodies for specific emotional outcomes and how urban designers have to choose between designing for what's comfortable for humans vs. what is good for the social fabric of humanity (<-- we choose the latter!). In other words, the question of agency is not a technological one, but primarily a social one. 

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This is the second episode in a 5-part series about Designing Wild Bodies and Space. Check back here for explorations - a mix of conversations and nonfiction narrative - first to deconstruct the topic with an Urban Geographer, and next to reimagine it with a Choreographer, a Placemaker, and an Interactive Narrative Designer.

Thanks to Brad Clymer for the dope intro music and Lawrence Williams for producing this episode!