---
title: Echo
url: 'http://simon.com.mt/games/echo'
markdown: 'http://simon.com.mt/games/echo.md'
date: '2014-01-27'
description: "Echo\_is a video game without video. It was made at the Malta Global Game Jam 2014 by Bernard Brincat and myself. The game requi"
taxonomy:
  category:
    - 'Digital Game'
  tag:
    - programming
    - design
    - phaser
---

# Echo

## [Echo](http://simon.com.mt/games/echo)

    27th Jan 2014   [programming](http://simon.com.mt/blog/tag:programming#body-wrapper) [design](http://simon.com.mt/blog/tag:design#body-wrapper) [phaser](http://simon.com.mt/blog/tag:phaser#body-wrapper)  

*Echo* is a video game without video. It was made at the Malta Global Game Jam 2014 by Bernard Brincat and myself.

![](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/teaser-photo-640x483.png)

The game requires at least 2 people to play, and needs a mobile device and a laptop or tablet. One player plays as the *bat*; they are blindfolded and given a pair of headphones that are connected to a mobile device. The other player plays as the eyes; they are given a laptop or tablet that can send sounds to the other player, used to control the direction of their physical movement.

*Echo* was written in Javascript and HTML5. It involved lots of client/server socket programming, as well as the use of positional 3D audio. The server was written using node.js, while the clients were written using Phaser JS. I was in charge of the overall game concept, as well as the development of the client side, while Bernard took care of the server-side development.

Below, you can see a video of a game in progress.

*Echo* also happened to appear on local television! More specifically, the game is being played in the background during a spotlight on the Malta Global Game Jam (interviewing Patricia Pizer, who was the keynote speaker).

![](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/echo-news.jpg)

Source code and installation instructions can be seen here: <https://scutajar.itch.io/echo> or from the Global Game Jam website [here](http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/echo-0).

*Echo* was cited in academic literature in the following places:

- Arjoranta, J. (2015). Playing the Non-Human. *Proceedings of Reconfiguring Human and Non-Human: Texts, Images and Beyond*, Jyväskylä, Finland. [10.1001/jama.288.20.2516](https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.20.2516) Full conference proceedings [here](http://ri.ibero.mx/bitstream/handle/ibero/1636/MCG_Art_03.pdf?sequence=1)
- Arjoranta, J. (2019). Playing the Nonhuman: Alien Experiences in *Alien vs Predator*, In S. Karkulehto, A.-K. Koistinen, & E. Varis (Eds.), Reconfiguring Human, Nonhuman and Posthuman in Literature and Culture(pp. 108–124) [10.4324/9780429243042-6](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429243042-6). Author copy available [here](https://jonne.arjoranta.fi/files/playing-the-nonhuman/ch5-author-copy.pdf)

[gallery] ![Echo's development team](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/echo-team.jpg "Echo's development team")![Playtesting Echo](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/echo-playtesting.jpg "Playtesting Echo")![A game of Echo in progress](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/echo-game-in-progress.jpg "A game of Echo in progress")![Attendees at the Malta Global Game Jam 2014](http://simon.com.mt/user/pages/games/echo/mggj-2014-attendees.jpg "Attendees at the Malta Global Game Jam 2014")[/gallery]

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