Brazilians Play Frogger On Skyscrapers To Raise Traffic Safety Awareness

Images courtesy of Andres Ortega and Paulo Muggler

No one ever complained about video games being too big—or too educational. In fact, massive (building-sized) gaming is exactly the type of trend we’d like to see more of, especially when tackling tough social issues. 

It’s an unfortunate facet of post-Industrial living, but not one without a solution: transit accidents. The primary cause of death in many developed and developing nations, residents of São Paulo are fighting back. Mostra Play!, a monthlong digital arts festival in Brazil, seeks to alleviate this reducible phenomenon by inviting pedestrians off the street to join in on everyone’s favorite digital pastime: gaming. 

From Andres Ortega of Noobware Games, creators of Frogger-homage game, Street Crosser, alongside Nutone: “Our game is attempting to raise awareness of the number one cause of death in São Paulo which is traffic accidents involving pedestrians, so we’ve created a frogger-style game where the aim is to cross the street and help elderly ladies across for bonus points.”

Street Crosser is featured on the 22-story-tall FIESP building on Paulista Avenue in the Brazilian capital, an LED media facade of unprecedented scale. Gamers can play other colossal games, as well: Play Goal, by Pfadfinderei, is a futbol-focused arcade game that will make your average Kinect soccer look like chump change. Car Crush SP!, by Paulo Muggler, re-interprets Candy Crush to explore the “diversity of technological solutions” available to improve transit problems. 

Take a look at some photos of this immersive spectacle below, and imagine a world where you could play Flappy Bird on the side of a skyscraper on any street corner. 

Mostra Play! is organized by Verve Cultural, and ongoing on Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista through May 4. 

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