Group avatar

GAMEFUL CHALLENGE #8: Making the Invisible Visible: Part 1: Game Pitches

Public Group, active 2 weeks, 2 days ago

THIS CHALLENGE IS CLOSED. YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 9TH TO PICK WHICH IDEA YOU’D LIKE TO SEE CREATED THE MOST. VOTE HERE This is part one of a two-part challenge related [...]

full description

THIS CHALLENGE IS CLOSED. YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 9TH TO PICK WHICH IDEA YOU’D LIKE TO SEE CREATED THE MOST. VOTE HERE

This is part one of a two-part challenge related to Making Good (http://makinggood.org/) a book and a project that has the goal of helping hundreds of thousands of people find jobs that make money and change the world.

In every community in every workplace there is a power structure in place–that structure determines how things are done. There is the one that we hear about that we are taught but simultaneously, quietly, there is another parallel structure. It is this secret parallel structure that really makes things happen. But how do you figure out what it is and how do we make the invisible visible? Is it really the president or the celeb you see on TV that has the power? Or is it their VP, assistant or possibly even their mother?

We all are taught the visible power structures. But what of the invisible ones, the one that will actually help you get a job, the person that actually has the power to change your company’s buying policy or to give you the five thousand dollars you need to launch your project? Who are they and what kind of game could both uncover their identities and share them with the world? Who are the unexpected powerbrokers in the world that don’t show up on the Forbes and Fast Company lists?

How can we out them all? How can we enable more people to gain access, to learn and uncover the invisible structures that are governing their own world? Whether we are uncovering the art world in New York, the world of international development or the fast paced world of cantaloupe growers — who is the boss? And who is the real boss?

The challenge: is to create a game that both uncovers the invisible power structure of an office place, a community or an entire world and then makes it visible for all.

How can we teach people the skills to do this?

Prize:
- The winner, as selected by our judges, gets an expense-paid trip to Toronto for the MakingGood Launch or a plane ticket of equivalent value;
- 2 community favorites get to become judges for the 2nd part of the challenge
- The top three contestants as picked by judges will get to present their pitch to a well known famous designer for feedback
- The top 5 community picked games will get a signed copy of Making Good (http://makinggood.org/)

Rules:
• For this half of the challenge the submissions must be fully detailed game design documents
• ALL genres are eligible whether or not they use technology
• Original games only, please. (Please don’t submit a game you made last year. Make a new one!)
* All team members must be Gameful members!

Extra points if:
-The game is easily transferable and applicable between different workplace or community environments
-The players can gain more information from replaying the game more than once
-The knowledge/skills learned are reinforced through gameplay

To Play:
1. Join the Making the Invisible Visible Group.
2. Discuss what you’re up to.
3. When you’re ready, but BEFORE February 20th, start a new forum topic for YOUR entry. (The forum topic is the easiest way for judges and contestants to see all entries in one place.) Describe what you’ve created. Include a link to your game, or a way to download it, so we can play it.
4. When you’re ready to officially submit your game, fill out this form.
5. Await game-tastic feedback from your fellow Gameful monsters.
6. Winners will be announced by the end of February.

Tags: challenge
excerpt
Group Admin
  • Avatar Image

In the Court of the Spider King (8 posts)

← More Topics in This Group
|
  • Avatar Image Tristan Ansel T. Angeles, a level 7 monster with 21 posts — 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Okay this is an idea I dreamt about. It has not been fleshed out yet but basically here it is. Going to try it out with a small group first. Any ideas or suggestions would be great!

    Inception/In the Court of the Spider king
    Overview:
    This game puts the players into the shoes of courtiers during the court of king Louie XI and uses an organizations organizational chart as the playing board. The players start out in his current position in the company/organization. The game is played within the span of a month or as decided by the players or referee. At the end of each day points are tallied, and the player with the most number of points is allowed to move his piece one step up or down the chart as he pleases.

    Objective/dynamic of the game:
    The game is to get your chips to the most number of people at the end of the day.
    *territorial control or collection dynamic?

    Core Mechanic:
    -Each player chooses an agent in his ‘territory’. By territory this means in his current dept/ classroom etc. and should only be one step vertically in relation to him. He gives the agent chips and ‘convinces him’ to spread it around.
    *he can bribe the agent or offer him treats etc

    -The agent will have one day to spread the chips around the workplace/territory.
    -When an agent finds a person with a chip of a different color, he can try to convince the person to give him the chip and replace it with his own. Of course he needs to be convincing enough, an as always he can do favors or give bribes.
    -there will be higher points for getting chips into people who are ‘gate keepers’ or people who control the flow of information within the company.
    -At the end of the day(or whatever time span is given) all chips are collected and the player must move one space vertically in the organization.

    Aesthetic:
    -I want the players to feel that they are agents or courtiers observing people. The game should allow players to practice their ‘people skills’ by interacting and actually getting to know people in their territory.
    Inception variant:
    This is something that can add a bit of flavor to the game. Instead of just color chips, the agent will be spreading ‘ideas’. ‘ideas’ can be anything that has been decided on by the players that can easily be attainable by all participants/workers in the territory. Example: wear this type of clothing, hum this tune etc..
    Haven’t really thought about how to enforce this yet.

    | #
  • Avatar Image Sherman Dorn, a level 7 monster with 12 posts — 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

    This could be interesting–I’m not sure I understand the mechanic (is this an ARG where players are interacting with others in their environment?), but the “move up in the court” is interesting. I’d keep an open mind about thinking about an org chart as the basic metaphor — those are explicit, formal power structures. For some reason, I’m thinking about the linear “power-rating” dynamic in Guillotine (okay, in its perversion of power) as an alternative, not for this challenge but just to get you thinking about how else to make power differences explicit.

    | #
  • Avatar Image Tristan Ansel T. Angeles, a level 7 monster with 21 posts — 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Hi! Yes its an ARG. I have heard of Guillotine but not familiar with it, but I’ll look into it. Thanks for the output!:)

    | #
  • Avatar Image Tristan Ansel T. Angeles, a level 7 monster with 21 posts — 2 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Here are the rules for my game! Testing it this week at my new work place.:)
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42996354/SpiderKing.docx

    | #
  • Avatar Image Cary M, a level 0 monster with 11 posts — 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Awesome. Thanks Tristan.

    | #
  • Avatar Image Emily Byrtus, a level 7 monster with 15 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    *I meant to get to do a post like this (a con with suggestion and a pro) on each entry earlier, but my schedule caught up with me a tad…. Sorry! On with the post.*

    CON: The main issue I see is in using chips as the token in the game – it seems like it would be really easy to forget that you even HAD a chip if the course of the game lasted long enough. What about little flags to post up – like a coat of arms? It keeps with the theme a little better and is a lot more visible. It would also allow for the agent to put their name on the flag, helping the agent discover the name without having to ask each person, “Who gave you that chip?”

    PRO: I love the idea of using this as a way to introduce somebody to the social grouping of an organization. The intricacy of social networks in the workplace are often difficult to break into in a new environment, and making it a game could also help a person introduce themselves into the group.

    | #
  • Avatar Image Suzanne Grubb, a level 7 monster with 12 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I love how this game gives a structure/purpose to getting to know the people/networks around you (particularly as an introvert who hates navigating new organizational networks, I feel like this game would be a great approach to taking some of the fear-of-the-unknown out of it).

    My friends and I made up a variation a little like this in highschool school where we would come up with a phrase of the week and see who could insert it into the most conversations — with the goal being to get the most people “outside” the game to say it.

    One thing that I learned while doing it is that tallying up/tracking private conversations/influence is really hard to manage (especially once you get past two players). However, focusing high-points on Public/Visible aspects (e.g., like wearing a certain color shirt … or prominently displaying a chip/flag on the right corner of your desk, etc.) helps keep things easier to manage … and makes it more fun!

    | #
  • Avatar Image Tristan Ansel T. Angeles, a level 7 monster with 21 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Thanks for the response!:)
    @Emily: That’s a great idea! Actually any kind of token will do not just poker chips. I guess whatever will work for a group will do.

    | #