Imagine a game if you will. With no graphics, just music, controllers and players. Now imagine that game's music was classical, the controllers PS Move and players a few of your friends and a few strangers...welcome to the world of Johann Sebastian Joust!

The game looks like the most fun in the history of Multiplayer games. The object of the title is to grab your opponents controller and waggle it out of time with the music that's playing. You can move in the proximity of the PS3 but only to the speed of the classical music, specifically, Johann Sebastian Back's Brandenburg Concertos, which when slow, you move slow and when fast, you better take that opportunity and waggle your friend's controllers like there is no tomorrow.

The game supports anywhere between 2-7 players and can be played almost anywhere a PS3 can be hooked up. There is much movement and laughter and crowds gather to see the game. Most recently it was shown off at Magfest and I heard about the game for a third time from the lovely people at Hey Ash Watcha Playin'. I decided to send a kind email and get the downlow on the game that everyone keeps talking about, the IGF 2012 nominated, Johann Sebastian Joust from Die Gute Fabrik (Loosely translated, The Game Factory).

QJ: So just to start off who are you and Die Gute Fabrik?

Douglas Wilson: I'm a design theory researcher by day, but over the last few years I've been working on a number of games, both digital and non-digital. After I finish my PhD dissertation this Spring, I'll be going "full-time indie" with my friend Nils Deneken. I'll be helping to run his small indie games studio, Die Gute Fabrik. Last year, Nils and I had worked with some friends on an IGF-nominated party game called B.U.T.T.O.N. More recently, Die Gute Fabrik released a puzzle-platformer game for PSN, called Where is my Heart? It received three honorable mentions at this year's IGF.


QJ: Where the hell did the inspiration for Johann Sebastian Joust come from?

DW: Over the last few years, I've been working on a few other no-screen game prototypes. Some of those projects were less successful, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. Then, at the Nordic Game Jam last January, I used wiimotes to prototype the first version of J.S. Joust. The game worked surprisingly well - better than I could have expected! I quickly realized that the game would work even better using the LED light on the Move, and so this past summer I managed to get the controller working off my MacBook Pro.

J.S. Joust was also inspired by a number of non-digital folk games that my friends and I play. I think those kinds of playground and carnival games offer some very useful precedents for thinking about the design of motion controller games!

QJ: What is the most surprising reaction you've got from the game?

DW: More than anything, I'm pleased that the game seems to appeal to a wide range of people, even people who didn't think they were interested in computer games. Last June we went out into Copenhagen on a Friday evening and just started running the game on the street (see here). We attracted a throng of people - people of all different types! For me, it was a really beautiful moment. It's gratifying indeed to reach new audiences. 

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