Psychogeographic Attention Game
Create a simple rule that makes a place surprise you
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
The Psychogeographic Attention Game uses a deliberately simple rule to make a traveler notice and interact with a place. First reduce digital mediation by leaving the phone behind or limiting it to offline essentials. Then choose a repeatable cue: say hello to everyone on a trail, follow whatever captures attention, collect a certain kind of observation, or walk until the day becomes interesting. The rule is not a destination plan. It is a device for interrupting the downward glance at a screen and inviting uncertainty. By acting whenever the cue appears, the traveler creates more chances for conversation, disorientation, humility, and unexpected events. The result is a journey shaped by direct attention rather than an algorithmically bounded menu.
Origin
Potts draws on flânerie, psychogeography, Craig Mod's hello practice, and his own maxim about walking until a day becomes interesting.
Core principles
- 01A small self-imposed rule can interrupt automatic screen behavior
- 02Wandering reveals what a menu of known options excludes
- 03Interaction and observation restore non-digital attention
- 04Uncertainty is a gift when it leaves room for unplanned experience
How to run it
- 1
Set the safety boundary
Choose an area and duration where wandering is reasonable. Retain essential navigation or communication only when the context requires it.
Pro tip Download a minimal offline map instead of carrying a feed of live distractions.
Watch out Do not romanticize getting lost where conditions are unsafe.
- 2
Remove the default
Make habitual phone use inconvenient by leaving the device behind, switching it off, or restricting its functions. Create enough friction to stop automatic checking.
Pro tip Tell companions the experiment before beginning.
Watch out A phone in hand can keep directing attention even when no app is open.
- 3
Choose one game
Select a simple rule tied to the environment, such as greeting each person or following an interesting sensory cue. The rule should create attention, not demand achievement.
Pro tip Use a rule you can remember without writing it down.
Watch out Too many rules recreate the itinerary the exercise is meant to escape.
- 4
Follow the cue
Act when the chosen cue appears and allow safe interactions or detours to develop. Resist checking whether the route is efficient.
Pro tip Stay with an unexpected encounter before rushing onward.
Watch out Respect refusals, private spaces, and local norms.
- 5
Capture the difference
Afterward, recall what became visible because of the rule and what the usual digital route would have omitted. Use that observation to design the next game.
Pro tip Record the reflection after the walk rather than during it.
Watch out Do not turn documentation into another screen-centered performance.
In the wild
Potts says Craig Mod downloaded limited offline material for a Japanese pilgrimage, then used saying hello to everybody as an exercise and mantra. The greeting redirected his attention from looking down at his phone toward people on the trail.
→ A tiny repeatable action supplied energy and human contact during the pilgrimage.
While wandering in Cambodia, Potts was invited into a village volleyball game because locals expected the tall visitor to be useful. They defeated him so thoroughly that they removed him from the team, then shared beer and friendship afterward.
→ Unscheduled wandering produced humility, connection, and a lasting memory.
Common mistakes
Using a complicated game
A rule that requires constant tracking becomes another task system rather than a prompt for attention.
Confusing uncertainty with danger
The exercise invites an unscripted day, not avoidable physical or logistical risk.
Documenting every moment
Continuous capture can return attention to the device the game was designed to displace.
Is it for you?
Best for
Safe walks, pilgrimages, and urban exploration where discovery matters more than efficient routing.
Not ideal for
Hazardous terrain, urgent travel, or situations where reliable navigation and communication are essential.
From the transcript
“find ways to play games with your sense of place”
“one of my mantras is walk until your day becomes interesting because then things happen to you”
From the episode
#624: Rolf Potts — The Vagabond’s Way, Tactics for Immersive Travel, Pilgrimages and Psychogeography, Empathy Machines, Full-Throated Love, The Slow Sense of Smell, Lessons from Thích Nhất Hạnh, Falling Upward, and More
Rolf Potts