Screenshots: 17776
Simon Groth
Screenshots is a regular feature by Simon Groth, highlighting a project, app, or other resource of interest.
17776
by Jon Bois
“What football will look like in the future.” It looks at first like just another opinion piece by just another American writer for sports-focused site SB Nation. But, very quickly into the story, it becomes clear that something is terribly wrong. The text itself warns you of this shortly before the page disintegrates. The opinion piece falls away from the page before it can really begin, nothing more than a ruse that deposits you into the world of 17776.
Distant satellites pointing back at Earth bring you the story of a generation of people who have not died or even aged, a generation that must find ever more elaborate ways to occupy its time. What football looks like in 17776 is a game with neither time nor physical boundaries. It’s a fascinating premise that leads to an extended mediation on immortality, boredom, and the deeper meaning of games: a strange brew that Bois handles with deft assurance.
The tech behind it uses simple html and embedded YouTube videos, with only a little javascript trickery, which has already given it a reasonable shelf life. Originally published serially in 2017, it’s a story worth revisiting or discovering.
Related posts
When The Writing Platform asked me if I would be so kind as to write something about how you lovely writers out there could approach bloggers I was really honoured. Yet after I had...
After the success of the last four MIX conferences, MIX 2019 returns to the beautiful surroundings of Bath Spa University's Corsham Court Campus in Wiltshire on the 1st and 2nd Jul...
The Writing Platform has partnered with Arts Council England to run an advice session about funding for digital writers. The event is taking place on Wednesday 8th April, 6.30pm -...
It was early in 2013 and really I'd had enough. A novel of mine had come out in 2011, and another in 2012, and now I was supposed to sit down and start another? I bridled. The s...
The Writing Platform offers a unique environment to publish writing that focuses on non-traditional. We publish at the intersection between technology and wr...
Screenshots is a regular feature by Simon Groth, highlighting a project, app, or other resource of interest. Core Values by Benjamin Laird Shortlisted for the QUT Digita...