Many of our most innovative projects are born from the simple question of—what if? In the case of “The War of Currents," the project took inspiration from our love of retro gaming and a desire put a shocking twist on the classic arcade cabinet.

The answer was building a game that hertz, a Street Fighter styled beat-em-up centered around the War of Currents, the pioneering battle at the dawn of electricity between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. Lose the in-game fight and you’ll be shocked with a zap of electric current as it rumbles through the custom joysticks.

Badge holders and media at SXSW lined up to give the game a run, with a consistent stream of laughter, and shocks of course, centered around the game’s quirky payoff and punishment. The game will find a permanent home at Proto starting on March 26th where anyone—apart from those who are expecting, have heart conditions or wear a pacemaker—are welcome to play.

During and after SXSW, The War of Currents was featured in a wide array of publications including The Next Web, Nerdist, Gizmodo’s Toyland, Mental Floss, Geek, SlashGear, Paste Magazine, Laughing Squid and Tom’s Guide.