The Smell of Defeat is an experimental interactive smell and taste game built around Rock Paper Scissors.
The game itself is very simple and has very little visual detail, so that the players become focused on their other, less-used senses.
Winning the game delivers a tasty liquid reward, such as schnapps, as a spray directly into the player’s mouth. Losers are punished with a spritz of scent from an air freshener. Games ending in a draw are filled with suspense as the player waits fruitlessly for their fate to be delivered one way or the other.
Our sense of taste is intricately linked to our sense of smell, and strongly influences our perception of flavor. So, on repeated plays, players will find that the sweet taste of the reward becomes ever more affected by the punitive smell. But thanks to the sensory alterations provided by the schnapps, they don’t care.
