Games we'll never play

Games we’ll never play is a collection of recreational activities for computers, robots and AIs. It is a playroom for the age of intelligent machines.

With a series of experiential artifacts, this project illustrates how some classic games could become aberrant, boring or frustrating, if recalibrated to be played by machines that think and perceive the world differently from human beings.

What if AI decided to take part in human tabletop games by rewriting their mechanics? Would we still be able to have fun, win or even just understand these new rules?

Using seemingly familiar games as a starting point, the project aims to inspire people to reflect on our controversial relationship with technology and the role AI is playing in shaping our thinking about the world.

Games we’ll never play has been premiered during Milano Design Week 2022 at BASE Milano, participating in the international exhibition We Will Design.

Games in the collection:

Authors:

THIS IS NOT A DUO

This is not a duo, it’s the joint journey of two designers. We're fascinated by complexity as an intellectual challenge and strive for simplicity as the product of creativity and good design. We work as Brand and Speculative designers. In our research, education and design activities, we have experimented and refined several future-imagination techniques. We want to foster reflections, involving people and organizations in envisioning alternative worlds. We do not want to escape from reality, instead we want to give our contribution in redesigning it, with awareness and foresight.

GIULIO BORDONARO

Giulio is an award-winning designer with specialization in branding, user experience and publishing. For the past 15 years he has worked with institutional and private world-class brands. He teaches undergraduate courses in the field of brand design and future scenarios at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan, exploring generative art, neural networks and web3.

NICOLETTA GOMBOLI

Nicoletta is a brand and speculative designer specialized in service, packaging and game design. In 2017 she started working in the luxury and high fashion sector. Today she’s a branding consultant for international communication companies, teaches and designs speculative design, focused on both social and environmental sustainability.

With the friendly participation of: Maura Saccà, Davide Ciadamidaro