Monday, August 8, 2011

Pirates and Zombies and Robots, oh, my!

In my search for playful companies, I have found two that just tickle me pink. (Which is good, since I started out a pink-ish color. If they tickled me purple or orange, you might look at me funny.) One is Instructables.com, which posts instructions on how to diy (do it yourself) almost anything. The other is Three Rings, which makes computer games.

So, people at Instructables wrote an instructable on how to launch a pirate attack, and went and launched a pirate attack on Three Rings. Complete with cardboard swords, newspaper hats, and a large piece of plywood labeled The Plank for their victims to walk. Some time later, the Three Rings folks launched a zombie attack at Instructables, where the zombies were intent on eating brains until someone turned on Thriller and everyone started dancing.

I love it!!!! I want to do this. I want to get more companies to do this sort of thing. Is anyone out there running a company bringing people pirate raids and zombie attacks? I want to work for you!

Seriously, this sort of play is great. It makes people laugh, which offers health benefits to the body. It makes people work together to create something, which is great for a team. It lightens the mood, which helps creative ideas flow and lets people try new things. I think this is the kind of thing more companies (heck, other groups too) need to do to stay healthy.

The robots are just in the title because Instructables offers instructions on how to make a robot. And Three Rings has an office that looks like a submarine, complete with a giant squid couch. Awesome!