thumb|A screenshot of the game. Given the acronym "GMBD", players suggest phrases including "Great Miami's Beaches, Delightful" and "Great Men Born Dead".

Acrophobia is an online multiplayer word game. The game was originally conceived by Andrea Shubert, and programmed by Kenrick Mock and Michelle Hoyle in 1995. Originally available over Internet Relay Chat, the game has since been developed into a number of variants, as a download, playable through a browser, via Twitter or through Facebook.

Background

Created by Andrea Shubert in the mid to late 1990s,

Gameplay

Players enter a channel hosted by a bot which runs the game. In each round, the bot generates a random acronym. Players compete by racing to create the most coherent or humorous sentence that fits the acronym - in essence, a backronym. After a set amount of time expires, each player then votes anonymously via the bot for their favorite answer (aside from their own).

Points are awarded to the most popular backronym. Bonus points also may be given based on the fastest response and for voting for the winning option. Some implementations give the speed bonus to the player with the first answer that received at least one vote; this is to discourage players from quickly entering gibberish just to be the first. Bonus points for voting for the winner helps discourage players from intentionally voting for poor answers to avoid giving votes to answers that might beat their own.

Some versions of the game were criticized for the ease with which players could disrupt games with obscenities, and the anonymous nature of the site meant that there were no repercussions for this behavior. However, it won GameSpots 1997 "Best Online-Only Game" award; the editors wrote, "Besides being a fun and very addictive game, the great thing about Acrophobia is the social experience."

References

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  • Wired article about Acrophobia release by Berkeley Systems
  • Baltimore Sun article
  • Video of Acrophobia gameplay
  • A modern continuation game