Reading Response:
Brenda Romero — Gaming for Understanding
Amazing, love the idea of tricking kids into understanding complex topics by having them play games.
Really inspiring. I wonder how to get people to play a game like this though — the little girl didn’t know what she was getting into, I imagine it would be much harder to get a school-aged kid excited to play a game about slavery unless you misled them.
It also risks trivializing hugely traumatic events. I would argue against this, but I could see a lot of people getting upset over trying to make something like the holocaust “fun”, even though that’s more of a misconception about what a “game” is though. Is it still a game if it’s not fun? A game like “That Dragon, Cancer”, that’s not supposed to be fun, and I’d argue that’s one of the most important video games ever made.
Ida Benedetto — Patterns of Transformation
I’m obsessed with redesigning funerals, this hits close to home.
I really like the idea that there’s a lot in common between people who go to sex parties, wilderness guides, and avant-garde morticians. Makes a lot of sense.
Definitely vibe with the idea that there can’t be transformation without risk. There’s a lot of Burning Man here… which coincidentally has a lot of wilderness, sex parties, and funerals. Burning Man also stresses active participation.
A little confused on the difference between embraced and conditioned magic circles.
Truth or Dare Redesign: Innie or Outie
Instructions: Two or more players, traditional truth or dare set up, but one at a time players are instead asked “Innie or Outie?” If “Innie”, the asker designates an act of self-care or otherwise positive action for the individual to take themselves, if “outie” the asker designates a positive action for the whole group to take at once.
Comments/Questions from playtest:
Should the task be written down before the person selects innie or outie? Because as an asker, I felt a much different mindset once I heard “outie” and realized I would be participating in this myself.
Should we explicitly say the command should be positive? Or if adhering to the previous point of writing down the command before, would people typically choose something positive anyway, since they risk themselves having to do it?
Suzanne mentioned it didn’t feel as though we were connecting to each other as much as we might in a traditional Truth or Dare game, and I wonder if that’s because there’s no shared suffering. If we’re all just feeling good then there’s nothing to bond over?