B EAST Magazine website

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

Twas another epic ‘Nasty, Nasty’ B EAST Magazine party series in Riga last Saturday night with guest DJ Adam Ficek from London’s badboy Babyshambles band, fronted by Peter Doherty. With Adam spinning an indie-electro mash-up, in addition to playing a live acoustic set, clubbers wearing B EAST T-shirts, special Beast cocktails, magazine handouts, and sets by DJs from Riga’s Ritmas Insitutes, it was a smashing, nasty evening. We’re planning to hit London sometime next year with the series, so stay tuned. Photos by our favorite Belarussian photographer, Rita Aivazova.