A game that will teach you the history of favourite typefaces like Garamond, Helvetica, Times (and not so favourite like Comic Sans).

A new game app available on iOS and Android aims to get users to understand typography. Type:Rider allows players to explore a series of beautifully designed levels, which each focus on a specific font, as well as a time in typographic history associated with it.

The design of a ‘world’ is usually related to the period in which a certain type originates and the user explores them as a colon that rolls around like a motorcycle.

For instance, players who find themselves navigating the world of Gothic architecture will simultaneously learn about Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press. The Pixel world takes you through the fonts of operating systems. And in the Times world you will explore Roaring Twenties-inspired environments such as a Fritz Lang ‘Metropolis’-esque cityscape.

“Typography is an old and invisible art that only a few people really know, but the history of letters is, in the end, the history of mankind,” says Théo Le Du Fuentes of Arte Creative, a Parisian designer who helped create Type:Rider.

“That’s why we set out to create a game that allows players to learn about the history of type while literally exploring it.”

The game is also available on Facebook and was also turned into an installation, letting visitors create their own typographic wall.

Vido: Type: Rider “L’installation” by Arte Creative

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