The most active urban game in the republic has turned 10 years old.
“Encounter” is an international network of active urban games that originated in the early 2000s in Belarus. In English, its name means “chance meeting,” “first experience,” “unexpected collision,” or “fight,” which accurately conveys the essence of what happens. Teams compete in various formats: from searching for and collecting codes that ultimately lead to a new location and eventually to the finish line with prizes, to photo hunts for specified objects under given conditions and extreme searches for specified codes in hard-to-reach places. Required equipment includes a car for moving around the city between game locations, a mobile phone or laptop with Internet access for receiving tasks, flashlights (the game usually takes place in the evening or at night), and radios for convenient communication between team players at locations where mobile reception is unstable. In case of unforeseen injuries, a first aid kit is kept in the car, and for long games that include a break for lunch, a ration for the players.
Prokhor and company
In Kyrgyzstan, “Encounter” has existed for ten years. It attracts active residents of the big city who want to relax not over a mug of beer or in a nightclub, but in an active and interesting way. Ivan Vedernikov brought the competitions to the republic from the vastness of the Internet. He registered the site “bishkek.en.cx” and held the first game in the “Fight” format. The participants were mainly active members of the “Diesel” forum. The first games were connected to a legend about a maniac named Prokhor, who was planning to destroy the world and cause Armageddon. The situation could only be saved by a certain magical book that needed to be destroyed. Tasks for its search were posted on the website. However, due to issues with the administration, Alex Hard had to create a new domain, where games are still held today - frunze.en.cx. For more than three years, the Diesel players played on it independently, mastering not only the “Fight” but also other types of Encounter, after which one of the founders of the creative development association “BOOM–Studio” and co-founder of the public association “Intellectual and Active Games EnCode,” Egor Panshin, took on the development of their version of “ena.” He made the game more accessible by dividing it into levels of difficulty so that not only experienced teams could participate but also novice teams. Experienced players helped write tasks. Besides collecting codes at points, new formats were mastered: in addition to the traditional “Fight” and “BrainBox,” “Photo Points,” “Wet Wars,” and quite labor-intensive “Photo Hunts” became popular and beloved. GPS orientation with encounter elements also appeared.
From young to old
One of the key features of “Encounter” is the actual absence of an age limit. For calmer and easier games like “Photo Points” or the intellectual “BrainBox,” players even bring their children, while the more challenging games attract a diverse audience: from school teenagers to those who have long completed their education and secured a good, well-paid job or started their own business. They are all drawn by the opportunity to think creatively, meet new, interesting people, or visit places that are usually off-limits. These include the suburbs of Bishkek, urban nooks and catacombs, and even a slaughterhouse and the ash dump of the CHPP. Some of these locations are unguarded, while others are partially protected. However, all safety rules are followed during the game; the organizers of each game personally visit all locations, considering and addressing all possible force majeure circumstances for the players.
Extreme and unconventional leisure activities are captivating: over time, a few become completely hooked on the game. Most participate periodically in their favorite types of ENa when free time allows. This is also the case for student freelancer Edil Bayyzbekov, who has been involved in the movement since his school days.
- Once, my friends and I gathered to play “BrainBox” (this is a team brainstorming game), one of the types of EN games. Soon we decided to try ourselves in “Fight.” The first game was tough for us: a lot of mud, hardcore, and difficult tasks; we fell far behind our competitors, but I enjoyed it! I like solving tough tasks, climbing through abandoned places, searching for codes, going to places where normal people don’t usually go, - he explains. - Then I was invited to join a team, and I started playing “Fights” often. The skills gained in the game are useful in real life. It’s the ability to think quickly, solve puzzles, know the city and suburbs, work in a team… And simply – active leisure on weekends instead of clubs and bars!
Both guys and girls play with enthusiasm. They make up about half of the teams. Some come for new experiences on their own, while others follow their friends or boyfriends, and in the end, they stay, taking leading positions and reaching the ranks of game organizers. This is how Elizabeth Kuznetsova found herself in the game and stayed. In her everyday life, she is a journalist, and in her free time, she is an active conqueror of the night city and its surroundings with experience.
- Encounter gives people incredible sensations – excitement, adrenaline, and ultimately an expanded worldview. You learn so many interesting things by playing EN at least once... I’ve been in the game for 4.5 years, since the fall of 2011. I got to my first game thanks to the fact that I started dating an EN player, the current captain of the top team “Monster ENergy” and a game author, - she recalls. - My first game for experienced players was quite easy; I didn’t understand at all what was happening around me: why we were constantly running somewhere, climbing into manholes and ditches, and where people found those damn codes. By the end of the game, I did find one code, but I revealed it to the competing team “smile emoticon.” Not everything comes at once, as they say. But I really enjoyed playing; the adrenaline bubbled for three days. At first, I was, as it is commonly called, “ballast” - that’s what they call girl players who want to play, and their boyfriends, unable to refuse, secure them a spot in the crew. The usefulness of “ballast” is, of course, almost zero. Some, after playing once or twice, leave without understanding the essence of EN, while others, like me, stay in it forever. EN cannot be called a sweet evening promenade with a cavalier. When going out to play, you must be ready to climb into mud, ditches, and abandoned constructions. If you went out to play – endure until the end. If you get tired, no one will take you home. Once there was a task where we had to climb into a 7-meter well with climbing gear for a code. With my wild fear of heights and periodic quiet hysterics, I had to climb into it since I turned out to be the lightest in the team. After all, you can’t let the team down! There have been games that lasted a whole day, and by the middle, you start dreaming only of getting home as soon as possible. But the sensations you get after finishing are incomparable, especially if it’s a victory!
A new generation
Over time, the organization of games, finding sponsors, and awarding prizes to the winning teams completely fell on the shoulders of the first players in En. And they are successfully handling the task: since almost all players are busy people, games have started to be held a little less frequently – once or twice a month. But with more intricate tasks on the engine and consequently - a greater amount of adrenaline for their participants. The decade of the beloved project was celebrated, of course, with a game: “10 years of your Knockouts,” compiled by one of the “old-timers” - RomChe$ko. It included both new tasks and locations as well as old ones, adapted for 2016 and new rules. There was something reminiscent of the first tasks of the first fight, like “In the south, there is a river, but no water has ever flowed in it. The river is deep, and its banks are very steep. But if you descend to the bottom of the river at the right place and walk south, you can find the code. It’s interesting how it happened that Pyatochok lives nearby?” The anniversary duel gathered 9 teams of varying experience and levels. In the course of fierce and persistent competition, the first place was taken by “Mushrooms,” the second by “Yolki-Palki.” The “Bronze” went to “MONSTER ENergy.”
