# Tricky gestalts & affordances (Superliminal, Baba is You, Crow Country) **Teacher**: Mark Shannelly ## Tricky gestalts > [!abstract] Superliminal > _Figure/ground gestalt_ > > The player identifies a distorted pattern of a figure at the ground. When they fix their perspective, the pattern in the ground turns into a figure (a game object) > > ![[ATTACHMENTS/REFS/Superliminal_Gestalt.gif]] > [!abstract] Baba is You > *Similarity gestalt* > > Baba is You is a tricky example. Baba is You is a Sokoban word-game, where words are blocks. But when put in sentences, those words define the rule-set for the interactions within this Sokoban level (comp. [[MEDIA_W13_TwoTypes_of_Doors#THEME Mind is the sharpest tool that kills with words|Mind is the sharpest weapon that kills with words]]). > > Baba is You uses *Similarity* between words and things (the words denote) to subvert the player expectation. If the player changes the position of word-blocks, then they're changing game rules, and usual semantic relations between words and things. The game addresses a similar issue that Magritte did with "Ceci n'est pas" ([The Treachery of Images](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_of_Images#/media/File:MagrittePipe.jpg)), and Foucault did with "The Order of Things", and Juul with "A Game of Objects". > > ![[ATTACHMENTS/REFS/BabaIsYou_Gestalt.gif]] ## Tricky affordances > [!abstract] Crow Country > > (1) *Gettable & Usable* (Implicit) Affordance > Classic green ammo pick-up > ![[ATTACHMENTS/REFS/CrowCountry/CrowCountry_goodAffordance.gif]] > > (2) *Dangerous* (*Implicit*) Mimic-Affordance > In the second part of the game, *purple* med-kits and ammo-boxes appear on the ground. They mimic green ammos and meds. If the player touches them, they will explode. > ![[ATTACHMENTS/REFS/CrowCountry/CrowCountry_badAffordance.gif]] *** <iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4wcWI3GEtaGm38dbdDFbyI?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="152" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe> *** ![[AgainstGameMetaphysics.borders]]