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Sunday in the City

A truly urban game

Sunday, June 20th, 1pm to 4pm.

Start point: Plaza in front of City Hall, San Francisco, 1 PM

End point: Plaza in front of City Hall, San Francisco, between 4 and 5 PM

In the grand tradition of Guy Debord and the Situationists, the Just Metropolis conference closes with a psychogeographic encounter with San fFrancisco. Led by master gamer Ian Kizu-Blair and the Wanderers Union, participants will have a chance to see and experience San Francisco (and the city in general) in new ways, and come face-to-face with the growing movement around urban gaming.

This free adventure wandering game in the tradition of randonneuring is a challenging but non-competitive journey to multiple urban zones by foot and public transit. It is the first in an series of four events spanning Summer 2010, culminating in a epic 24-hour wandering that will take players all around the Bay Area from skyscrapers to wilderness and from islands to highways.

Anyone can participate, even if they are not registered. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring water.

A note from Wanderers Union chief Ian Kizu-Blair:


"Wanderers Union is loosely based on randonneuring, a French style of self-supported long-distance cycling. Wanderers Union asks players to travel by foot and public transit to a certain number of zones within a certain time limit. A series of four events begins with a 4-hour wandering for the Just Metropolis conference and ends with a 24-hour wandering. Going quickly is encouraged but all finishers receive the same honors, so camaraderie rather than competition is rewarded. I started randonneuring fairly recently and fell in love with the adventure and challenge of it, and wanted to create the same feeling of adventure and triumph for walkers in an urban environment.


To me, the appeal of Wanderers Union is the challenge of exploring a metropolitan area as a single holistic experience - I believe that during the wanderings, spaces will be juxtaposed in novel ways that will reveal hidden meanings. Additionally, I think players who complete the series will have a better knowledge of the public transit lines, distances and terrain of the metropolis* in which they live.

*I say 'metropolis' because Wanderers Union intends to include suburbs, rural areas, wilderness, industrial zones, islands, beaches and possibly simulated environments in addition to urban spaces."