Game Design as Social Engineering
The focus of this workshop is on non-digital games designed for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of players. After a brief introductory talk, elective participants will play and examine several examples of such games. Participants will then split into two or two three groups. Each group will be given design constraints and will create a game designed for all of the elective participants. If it is logistically possible, the group as a whole will select one of these ideas to be played with all 100 participants of the 2-day workshop.
- To understand the relationship between rules and play – the relationship between the formal system of a game and the way that this system becomes an experience for players.
- To look at game design as a kind of social engineering, in which game designers create stylized modes of interaction between players.
- To get hands-on experience in solving game design problems involving many simultaneous players.
- To apply the knowledge and skills gained in the elective to design work in digital media.
Section 1 (10
minutes)
- Give a brief overview of the elective goals and structure.
- Introduce general Rules / Play / Culture model for understanding games.
- Example: 2-player language game.
- Apply the R/P/C model to the particulars of this workshop:
- Rules: the ways in which game designers have stylize player behaviors
- Play: the social experience of the participants resulting from the rules
- Culture: the particular context for which a game is designed
Section 2 (15
minutes)
- Quorum (Lantz & Costikyan)
- Manifesto (Lantz & Zimmerman) – play simplified version
-
Link (Lantz
& Zimmerman)
-
Bite Me
(gameLab) – play game
Section 3 (50 minutes)
- First, the participants will split into 2 or three groups, depending on the total number.
- Each group will be randomly given one social criteria and one structural criteria (such as “cause laughter in players” & “divide players into 2 groups”).
- Groups will design and test their own games.
- All of the games will be played by all of the elective participants.
- The group will select one design, make refinements, and play again.
Section 4 (10
minutes)
- The group will strategize whether there is a way to involve the rest of the Workshop participants in the game (at lunch, at the end of the day, etc).
- Discussion of the relevance of the exercise to digital design.