“To someone holding a hammer,” recites a popular adage, “everything looks like a nail.” This saying highlights the idea that our technical equipment shapes how we relate to the world: a hammer is not just a passive instrument, but a tool for interpreting reality—something structures our sense of possibility and guides our aspirations and intentions. A similar adage, often attributed to Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980), claims that “first the man made the hammer, and then the hammer made the man.”
With our latest experimental videogame HAMM-3R, we explore the idea that our equipment influences how we understand the world and act within it. Through playful interactions, the game proposes that our tools—like a hammer, or a plasma gun—do not merely extend our agency but actively transform us, inviting specific interpretations, expectations, and modes of engagement with reality.
Paying hommage to Anton Chekhov, HAMM-3R is the latest in a series of free, experimental games designed to disclose interactive philosophical experiences. As conceptual works, these games have been exhibited in museums and galleries, played at independent game festivals, showcased during public talks, and played in game studies classes.