A Quest for the Wood Dragon

A Quest for the Wood Dragon is a game I created for High Five: Exploring the Elemental Forces of Chinatown, the 3rd Annual Contemporary Art Festival presented by Edge on the Square on Saturday, September 7, 2024.

When Curator Candace Huey reached out to me about contributing a piece that united the five elements of High Five’s curatorial program – earth, fire, water, metal, air – I wondered about the absence of the wuxing element of wood (swapped with the Western classical element of air) during 2024, a Wood Dragon year. My story of a Wood Dragon preoccupied with crisis quickly coalesced, and the quest to unlock a sixth element fell into place soon after.

A Quest for the Wood Dragon was designed in the style of alternate reality games and scavenger hunts: a secret quest woven into the festival grounds of Chinatown’s alleyways, a puzzle of cryptic sigils and symbols – drawing from ancient Chinese cosmological motifs – embedded in the environment, a surprise envelope upon completion containing one of five elemental divinatory fortune options and a wooden keepsake amulet, and the lightly-veiled encouragement of exploration, discovery, and play in public spaces.

I created the game at all stages: devising the narrative, mapping out physical locations, writing the game text and clues, designing and sourcing the components, playtesting and troubleshooting, and installing and roleplaying the part of the Wood Dragon Temple – while witnessing curiosity, intrigue, and delight activated all day in a steady stream of participants of all ages.