çaydanlık

Controls: Space or Right Mouse 

This little piece was created 2026 during the module: Reboot/Design/Tech with Joëlle Bitton as mentor at ZHdK.

Paper I reference:  Undesigning Technology: Considering the Negation of Design by Design by James Pierce (2012)

My piece is a small ritual game about making Turkish tea with a çaydanlık (a two-part kettle). The kettle is already on the stove when the scene starts. The water slowly heats up. I only give the player one main thing to do: pour. First you pour tea concentrate from the top pot (Dem), then you pour water from the bottom pot (Su). Each pour is a commitment: you can do it only once. After that, the game shows the result. Then it loops.

I chose Turkish tea because it feels honest to my own background. At the same time, it helped me notice something: many “cozy” game interactions copy a generic idea of tea (tea bag). That version can carry a colonial history and a fantasy of “simple comfort” that hides real systems behind it. With the çaydanlık, the ritual is an embodiment of this hybridized culture. It is not about a single “perfect time”. It is about relationship, hospitality and proportion: how much concentrate, how much water, when you decide to stop. This is small, but it is meaningful to me.

The project is also a response to the idea that design should focus on outcomes, not outputs. I did not try to make a big polished game with lots of content. I tried to make a system that changes how you feel for a moment. The outcome I want is simple: a short pause, a calm focus, and a small awareness that “less interaction” can be enough. The game does not reward speed. It does not have points, streaks, or optimization. It only asks: When is it enough?

I also used a PS1/PS2-inspired look on purpose. It supports the idea of limits and “unlearning polish”. The scene is not trying to be smooth or hyper-real. It is textured, a bit rough, and clearly artificial. That makes it easier to accept the loop as a ritual space, not as a simulation. The loop itself is part of the statement: it is not about progress. It is about repeating a small action until the interface no longer speaks over you.

I want my audience to feel how design choices become values: adding UI is a value, removing UI is also a value. In my case, “undesign” is not an empty aesthetic. It is a decision about power/control and accessibility. The interface should not always lead the user and only intentional  interfaces should be put in place.