Somewhere at SXSW there is a person wearing a bowler hat. Players have to find them and politely claim the hat. This is The Hat Game.
If the players can wear the hat for longer than anyone else, they win a prize. But they have to be careful, the hat has a GPS tracker concealed in its lining. Other players can see the position of the hat plotted to a Google map on the game website or, courtesy of Textopoly, can send HAT to 88704 and get it on their mobile phones. Players use this information to stalk the hat wearer and claim the hat for themselves.
The game website details how to play and has the map with the hat's current location. Having successfully claimed the hat, players take a picture of themselves and submit it to the website via upload or email (details inside the hat). The clock then starts ticking and @thehatgame announces the new wearer in a tweet.
The game is being run daily over the weekend of the SXSW Interactive festival (14th/15th/16th March) from 1.00pm to 9.00pm. Use Twitter hash code #hatgame to report hat sightings.
The Hat Game has been produced for iShed and Arts Council England by Simon Games in collaboration with the Umbrella Group and Pollen 8. The game uses the Moosehunt location game engine developed by Simon Games. The US short code service is supplied and sponsored by Textopoly.
Tags: festival, games, mobile, sxsw
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