Analysis of Electroplankton Toshio Iwai, an experimental artist and musician developed Electroplankton as another one of his many artistic endeavors. The game was developed for the Nintendo DS making use of its dual screen and hands on interface. The game itself embodies everything about Paidia – the bottom-up perspective of developing games removing many common aspects of gaming like goals, rules, and narrative structure. Paidia itself means “play” which is exactly what Electroplankton does. There are really no objectives involved in Electroplankton except having fun. Using mainly the stylus included with the DS you interact with the lower DS screen which is responsive to the bumps, turns, and presses, of the stylus. You can also manipulate the d-pad and other buttons to create different effects and parameters. Finally the use of the mic is included letting you sing and blow into it to create a variety of different results. The game is centered around different groups of Electroplankton each of which move differently and react to different stimuli that are provided by the player. All the plankton themselves are inherently musical and as you “play” with them their bodies will react with different sounds. As you play you begin to discover the different aspects or biological complexities of each of these different species of plankton actually learning to “play” them as an instrument. There is no high score or objective, just play, while each plankton has its restrictions the possibilities for creativity are almost endless. For example, some plankton float on the bottom screen and react to the stylus touch as they are hit by the water disturbance you created. One species of plankton jump from a specific “launcher” leaf towards trees with movable leaves that the player can manipulate themselves. As they bounce against other leaves they produce different tones. A player can remember specific tunes they create by writing down the specific angles the different tree leaves point. The game itself is a joy to play, using the stylus we modify the arrangement and shapes of the plankton to create different sets of sounds and randomized visualizations. I haven’t met a single person who hasn’t enjoyed playing it. And as my friends and I introduce other people to the different plankton we always are amazed to find that everyone finds a different way to “play” on each of the plankton that we never could have thought of. Being a recording musician, I’ve brought my recording equipment and friends and I have spent hours mixing, matching, and layering different plankton species on top of each other to create various soundscapes and songs. From there we are able to share our “songs” with others. The game stems into the realm of community by joining together different people and creative ideas. Interactivity is key in this game as you are constantly involved in the various aspects of playing the different plankton as their own different instrument with different tonal qualities and vocal characteristics. Once again, play is key to this game, playing the game itself is the only way to actually engage and learn with the game. Each electroplankton is actually its own instrument that we can only have fun with if we learn to play it. And as I watch more and more people play I learn more and more ways to interact with the different unseen complexities that the electroplankton have to offer.