Travel

Beast to Beast with Encounter

Eight years ago Ivan Maslyukov had finished school and completed his military service for the Belarussian army unscathed and entered the rat race as a web-designer before creating “the game,” Encounter. Now, almost 70,000 ‘urban gamers, from Prague to Kiev, Minsk to Tashkent, are embarking upon Encounter “combat” missions around their cities in a race to solve web-delivered clues to find codes in real-time, real-world and often in really crazy abandoned industrial sites. Hopefully with life and limbs in tact.

Why did you create Encounter?
There was a girl who I loved but I didn’t know how to seduce her. I decided then to create something great, to impress her imagination.

And? Did you get the girl?
Yeah, the girl was seduced, but many years later!

Fantastic! But what makes it better than other online games?

Well it’s not simply an online game. Online means “communication via the Internet” but EN happens right on the streets of your city. It’s not only the best online game; it’s something different too. It’s real.

Ivan Maslyukov-The Man Behind Encounter

Ivan Maslyukov-The Man Behind Encounter



Okay, so what kind of person joins Encounter and what makes them keep playing?

We all have something in common: a desire to live. We pretend all kinds of living organism on our planet have this desire… but there’s a difference between, “I want to survive,” and “I want to live a full life!”
Most of us on this Earth are happy with survival yet there are some for whom this is not enough. They want to make their lives active, bright, beautiful, audacious, rich and full. They’re souls longing for the sensation of being alive.
EN gamers are also often grouped with those found of extreme sports, but it’s not really accurate – our intellect is also important! Simply being strong and brave is not enough; you should be clever and creative to win.

The world is currently in economic meltdown, it’s been hit by a strange pig-flu virus and apparently Belarus may be “bankrupt” by August – people’s natural sense of fun and optimism have clearly taken a battering. Has this situation affected Encounter in any way?

President Lukashenko says that there is no crisis in our country; we don’t catch any crisis effects. So, the recession playing a role in project Encounter? It’s out of question . Whatever concerns face our President, this genius politician, he seems to deal with it with ability. Even the end of the world.

Thanks to the crisis, I’ve managed to recruit the best programmers from the top software development services company in Central and Eastern Europe. Now they work all for Encounter.

Does Encounter have any trans-continental games/schemes planned? A huge single game with teams from different nations would be pretty cool!

We are developing the project in all neighbouring countries but we’re also starting the promotion of EN across the EU, such as trying to find reliable partners in different European cities – like youth associations and universities. Our team is always ready to organize an excellent EN weekend for you.
Encounter is played out in some pretty weird locations.

Have you or other gamers ever run into trouble with the authorities because of where the game takes you?

Encounter is well known in Belarus so when players run into the authorities they just say that they’re playing Encounter. Often, though, there’s no one around abandoned buildings at night.

We couldn’t help be attracted to the “Wet Wars” game (participants are the hunter/hunted in a water-gun toting, last-man standing games that have lasted weeks), illustrated as it is by a lovely lady in a golden bikini, wielding a massive water-gun. But just which is the most popular game format?
It’s combat for sure. The others are just for having a break from combat!

Some of the photos in the gallery remind me of scenes from Andrei Tarkovsky’s film “Stalker”. Both seem to share a great sense of adventure and quest. Would you agree?

You are quite right. Both the film and EN are enigmatic experiences. Every game is like a little film, with its own scenarios and actions. But you are not simply a viewer; you are a very active part of the live in-game plot. And, of course, it’s not fiction.

Interview by Al Jackson.

Tags: , , , ,

This entry filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Beast to Beast with Encounter”

  1. Encounter « //argot///// Says:

    […] The text that follows the picture below is the longer feature-type version of an interview for B EAST magazine and, given the type of places the gamers tend to get sent to to solve their clues, codes and tasks, […]