The Auckland Game

This is my own idiosyncratic map of the place where I live.

It's a grotesque distortion of the three-dimensional Auckland of the mapbooks.

It occurred to me one day that it would be interesting to try and create a kind of subway map of the events, places and people most significant to me.

If you consent to play the game, I imagine you might be inspired to create your own private dreamscape of the place you live inside your head.

The rules are here.

Start out on the place board, then move onto time.

gameboard (place)

0 - 8.00 am START
Throw the dice. Move ahead that many spaces. Read the square.

1 - 8.30 am ALBANY VILLAGE
Start up your car. Keep driving till you get to Coromandel.

2 - 9.00 am MASSEY CAMPUS
Turn on the computer. Search until you find your double’s name.

3 - 6.00 pm UPPER HARBOUR HIGHWAY
Jump ahead to Car Accident!

4 - 10.00 am FERRY RIDE
Buy a ticket and set sail for Rangitoto.

5 - 9.30 am MAIRANGI BAY
Leave the house too late and Miss the Bus!

6 - 11.00 am SUNNYNOOK
Go to the movies. Nothing on. Crawl back to Massey campus.

7 - 4.30 pm CASTOR BAY
Get off the bus. Walk back to Mairangi Bay.

8 - 10.30 am FORREST HILL
Stall the car at the traffic lights. Drive across to Birkenhead.

9 - 12.30 pm MISS THE BUS
Return to Start. Throw the dice again.

10 - 5.00 pm RANGITOTO
Rough on the harbour. Stop for breath halfway up the hill.

11 - 4.00 pm BIRKENHEAD
This is where it all stops. Miss a turn as you kill time.

12 - 2.00 pm DEVONPORT
Cruise the bookshops until it’s time for your Ferry Ride!

13 - 2.30 pm PONSONBY
Time for a coffee as you wait for friends (they’re late).

14 - 3.00 pm WALK IN THE PARK
From Grafton Cemetery through the Domain to Newmarket.

15 - 6.30 pm EDEN CRESCENT
Get off the bus in Albert St. Cross over into Shortland St.

16 - 1.00 pm HIGH ST
Lunch with an old friend yattering on & on about her kids.

17 - 3.30 pm K RD
Buy some shirts (or have them bought for you).

18 - 1.30 am GRAFTON
Take a leisurely Walk in the Park!

19 5.30 pm CAR ACCIDENT
Miss a turn. Get a lift from the cops back to Mairangi Bay.

20 - 12.00 noon GREY LYNN
Help a friend move house (for the umpteenth time).

21 - 1.30 pm NEWMARKET
Do some shopping – see what’s on at the movies.

22 - 7.00 pm WESTERN SPRINGS
Party in the house with the book-shaped letterbox.

23 - 7.30 pm COROMANDEL
End of the Road. Throw the dice to move back through TIME .

24 - 8.00 pm STOP
Shift over to the TIME gameboard.

gameboard (time)

24 - Stop 8.00 PM
Throw the dice. Move backwards that number of squares.

23 - Coromandel 7.30 PM
Start the car. Keep driving till you get to Mairangi Bay.

22 - Western Springs 7.00 PM
Video and pizza on the sofa with a friend.

21 - Eden Crescent 6.30 PM
Car towed. Taxi to the impound yard.

20 - Upper Harbour Highway 6.00 PM
Scoot round the corner from the off ramp just in time.

19 - Find a Car Park 5.30 PM
Practice the art of parallel parking. Back to Stop.

18 - Rangitoto 5.00 PM
Halfway back, two passengers are missing. Ferry Turns Back!

17 - Castor Bay 4.30 PM
A CD launch with snacks in the hills behind the bay.

16 - Birkenhead 4.00 PM
Work party in a glass-fronted house overlooking the sea.

15 - K Rd 3.30 PM
Arrive at the bookshop too late because you Trip & Fall!

14 - Trip & Fall 3.00 PM
Scramble up with a fixed smile – saving face.

13 - Ponsonby 2.30 PM
Not as many bars are open as you’d expect.

12 - Devonport 2.00 PM
Climb up North Head. Get lost inside the secret tunnels.

11 - Newmarket 1.30 PM
Walk by the CD shop before going to the movies.

10 - High St 1.00 PM
Climb the stairs to the trendy bar to give your launch speech.

9 - Catch the Bus 12.30 PM
Take the Link Bus. Get off again after 9 stops.

8 - Grey Lynn 12.00 NOON
Drive by your friend’s house. She’s waiting by the letterbox.

7 - Grafton 11.30 AM
Finally manage to Find a Car Park!

6 - Sunnynook 11.00 AM
Power-walk to the multiplex. After the movie, back to Mairangi Bay.

5 - Forrest Hill 10.30 AM
Memories of the day you got soused by the water main.

4 - Ferry Turns Back 10.00 AM
Still blithely unaware as they climb on.

3 - Mairangi Bay 9.30 AM
Leave the house on time to Catch the Bus!

2 - Massey Campus 9.00 AM
Morning classes never starts on time. You hope.

1 - Albany Village 8.30 AM
End of the Road. Toss the dice to find your PLACE.

0 - Start 8.00 AM
Shift back to the PLACE gameboard.

Keep playing till you've had enough.