I Wish for an Animal: a multiplayer mixed-reality game about wildlife conservation

Abstract

-Last night the Sheikh went all around the city, lamp in hand, crying, “I am weary of beast and devil, I wish for a man.”- This verse is part of a long poem by Rumi, the Persian Sufi poet of 13th century. As a name for this project the last part of this verse is picked and slightly modified, to show that as he was looking for an uberman in the dark, we soon will be wishing for animals*. “I Wish for an Animal” is a pervasive game designed to educate about the matter of wildlife conservation. Urbanites live in the concrete jumble they have built over centuries around a society in which the only species who have a say, are Homo sapiens. Lifestyle of city dwellers has made it so that their only daily exposure to nature would be interacting with their apartment plants and pets. This removes them from realities of the natural environment and creates this belief for the majority that preserving the environment is a job of environmentalists rather than that of each of them. “I Wish for an Animal” tries to raise awareness about the impact of everyday city life on wildlife extinction and conservation. The game was experienced for four days in Tehran with 85 players, in April 2015. * In Persian “I wish for an animal” rhymes with “I wish for a man”.