Encounter (game)

Also known as "Схватка" (reads as 'skhvatka') (translated "Combat" from Russian) – the game that gave birth to this project.

[1] The game rules applied today were developed by Belarusian Ivan Masliukov in 2001 as part of the Skhvatka project.

[5]Developers of such games like "Hunt", "Skhvatka", and "Dozor" copied the main idea of Encounter, slightly altering the format and task management.

[6] As a result, Ivan separated from partnership with BelInfonet and created an independent Encounter project.

[7] A noteworthy fact is both parties of the conflict registered their game name trademarks "Skhvatka"[8] and "Encounter" [9] in 2002 and 2004 correspondingly.

Having gone through many stages of development, through criticism and disagreements with BelInfonet, the games labeled Encounter get held in many countries of the world: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, United States, Czech Republic, Poland, France, Germany, Israel and many other.

[13][14] The filming and processing of documentary about urban games "Encounter: lust for life"[15][16] over by December 2009.

The service platform of Encounter makes it possible to hold various urban games within a city or a country.

In 2006 Russian magazine "Kommersant" wrote:[7] Encounter is played by about 300 thousand people in 11 countries – the organizers say.

The estimation of the audience is probably overrated –for instance there are hardly 300 participants of the game in Moscow, according to Sergey Logvinov, local Encounter manager.

The potential audience size doesn't matter, as well as the presence of similar or different games organizers in the region.

Having paid one-time fixed deposit, a registered user obtains owners rights to the third level domain name in en.cx zone.

This sum is determined by the game format (Combat, Brainstorming) and entry fees paid by participants.

Organizer sets the rules for his games, specifies their format, timing and participants’ fees.

[35] The team that first completes all game missions (levels) gets 50% of all the money collected; the rest goes to the organizer.

The creator of Encounter Ivan Masliukov chose this option: This is my job, my school, my university, my business – my life.

The important thing is to do what you like.The annual racing and night role-playing games market capacity in Moscow is estimated to be at least 6 million roubles, Masliukov says.

[37] The Encounter founder Ivan Maslukov extends urban games not only geographically by entering new regions but also by generating and bringing to life new ideas.

Every team has to have a car to reach different locations, a cell phone or a laptop connected to Internet in order to receive mission tasks, flashlights (due to the fact that most of the games are held on Saturday nights) and a set of walkie-talkie to use at places where network signal is low.

In this game a fantasy and participants’ ideas determine the outcome and time for completing the tasks doesn't matter.

In order to participate, teams should have an internet access to obtain coordinates and a shovel to dig out the treasures.

If completed, the team gets hints to the treasures or some additional time that may affect the results of the game.

In this game a fantasy and participants’ ideas determine the outcome and time for completing the tasks doesn't matter.

[49] Since 2006 the Encounter administration has awarded participants for outstanding success in games or the project development.

There are 6 types of awards: "For belief in future", "For contribution in project development", "For courage and braveness", "Champion", "Hyper-brain", "Green star".

[26] Quotes from General declaration:[10] Ivan Masliukov:[5] For a participant the Skhvatka game is an alternative reality with lots of tasks and variances to overcome.

It is a concentrated life that one plunges into for one night.A comment by Tatiana Jurieva, a psychologist:[51] Such games like paintball, historical role-playing and Encounter provide more than just pleasant pastime.

One guy asked us if we could give him a ride to Moscow.An opinion on Encounter as social phenomenon by a participant Eugene:[54] It remarkably changes people.

I got rid of many unnecessary habits, overcame hang-ups and gained consciousness.An aftergame comment by 2004 Eurovision contest winner Ruslana:[55] It's a game worth cancelling some of your daily activities for.

Come to play and learn what the real game is!These are some of famous people who took part in Encounter game Ruslana,[56] Alex Exler, Dmitry Puchkov, Ales Mukhin, Ville Haapasalo, KVN team Fyodor Dvinyatin, Yevgeni Grishkovetz, Boris Strugatsky, Diana Arbenina,[57] Sergey Pimenov, Konstantin Rykov, Andrey Griboedov, Artur Sitdikov.