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20things – SYZYGY and Ars Thanea celebrate the Internet with a pixel art puzzle game

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SYZYGY Frankfurt, May 16, 2022

We ❤ the Internet

The Internet is amazing. It’s a huge playground for fun and a space for creative exchange. And it connects people all over the world. That’s why we love the Internet. And that’s why we want to celebrate it – starting today with a very special search-and-find game: 20things, developed and put together by SYZYGY in Frankfurt and Warsaw-based design studio Ars Thanea.

20things is a digital, interactive search-and-find game – and it’s as global as the Internet itself. A retro-style pixel art collection in which we have brought together 20 of the biggest and funniest events from the past year in a visual puzzle. Under the hashtag #20things, we challenge the online community to spot them all and guess what they are. So how does it work? At www.20thin.gs, users scroll through a pixel art image containing animated scenes and try to identify and name all 20 hidden events. It’s about fun and creativity, but there’s also a deeper reason for it.

We want to show how entertaining and crazy the Internet can be and why we love working with it every day. The Internet brings people together through creativity and a passion for discovery. It opens the door to really exciting possibilities. These could be anything from memes to revolutionary technology like NFTs. And we love experimenting with the latest stuff.

Ben Ringwald
Executive Creative Director bei SYZYGY

We’re simultaneously reviving an old tradition with this project, having also previously celebrated the Internet with 20things.

What’s new is that the 20 elements of the puzzle are available as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). We will be auctioning 19 NFTs on OpenSea because we want to support those who are working against hate, bullying and fake news on the Internet. All income we earn from selling the 20things collection will be donated to HateAid – Germany’s first advisory service for victims of online harassment. It’s an NGO that consistently confronts the dark side of the Internet.

All participants who correctly identify all the 20things will be entered into a draw for an NFT. “NFTs are a hot topic at the moment. We’re excited to see how we can use them in digital communication,” said Ringwald.

The search-and-find picture and the animation were created by Polish design studio Ars Thanea.

It was exciting to revive the 20things concept with a new technology component. We chose the iconic pixel design because we wanted to leverage the current trend for NFTs and the metaverse.

Peter Jaworowski
Founder and Executive Creative Director Ars Thanea

From today, 16 May, people all over the world can get involved by visiting the specially created website www.20thin.gs – ­and because the challenge isn’t exactly easy (which would just be boring) new clues will be shared on SYZYGY’s social media channels for 20 days. Users can discuss 20things on Twitter (@20_things_) and Instagram.

SYZYGY and Ars Thanea hope you have fun!

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