Capturing the Wumpus is a variation of Gregory Yob‘s game Hunt the Wumpus. Performers play a game in which all the moves have been predetermined by a computer program using AI.
The object of the game is to find and capture a monster, called a Wumpus. The monster is hidden in an imaginary cave known as the performance space. Pits in the space act as traps for the performers. If you step into the same space as the Wumpus, you will be eaten. If you step into a pit, you will fall to your doom.
The performance space is set up as a grid with marked off squares in which you will be moving. In spaces immediately surrounding the Wumpus or a pit the environment changes. If you are next to the Wumpus, you will detect an odor. If you are next to a pit, you will feel a breeze. If you become lunch or fall into a pit you return to where you started.
Once all four performers have surrounded the Wumpus, The Final Battle occurs.
The director’s job is to inform all performers where to go and what to perform.