Pete Vigeant, who lives in Beacon, is the creator of an interactive trivia contest that will next be held at The Yard on July 19. See thebigbuttongameshow.com.
You launched The Big Button Game Show in January. How does it work?
It is a series of mini-games, some of which are trivia-based, some of which feel more like a video game. Each team of up to five gets a single button, which is constantly moving between players. If your team wins a game, you get to play a bonus game. One of the things that people find charming is that I programmed the entire game. I built the communication layer between the computer that’s running it and the buttons, and I programmed the buttons.
Has it been popular?
The response has been incredible. We’ve been getting 30 to 40 people per show, and I have groups that are regulars. I’m constantly adding stuff, so it’s always changing and evolving and shifting in fun and surprising ways. I redid the game with art I’ve made over the last 15 years, so it has a distinct look. Someone who had gone to the first show and came back to the 10th said: “I am speechless. It’s remarkable how much it’s evolved in just a short time.”
What is your day job?
I am an experience and game designer. For the past 20-plus years, I’ve been making spaces, events, museums, public activations and brand activations, all centered around the idea of getting a lot of people together and using game-like mechanics to enhance their experience or create positive social moments. Making something, coming up with a rule set and watching people engage with that rule set and having fun with it is incredibly satisfying.
How does designing experiences differ from video games?
A game for an installation or an activation or an event or a museum, they’re all ephemeral. A video game is a single idea, and you pack everything into that single idea. For The Big Button Game Show, I get to continue to play with it. I have a notebook filled with the next stuff that I can add.
What other projects have you worked on?
I was the lead designer of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a museum in Boston. The centerpiece is a scale replica of the Senate chambers. I produced a game-like experience where 100 people come in for 2½ hours and pretend to be senators. I also designed a 20-foot-by-20-foot interactive floor at the Adidas flagship store in New York City — celebrating a new shoe called the Lightstrike. I’ve toured the country running games and teaching people how to build and run games.
