Additional Game Prototypes and Brainstorming

This section outlines some additional games and brainstorming we did at the start of this design process. Two of these games have been prototyped, but never passed design sustainability. Other ideas are result of brainstorming, but never reached the prototyping stage.

The Masters of the Internet

For 2-5 players
Based on a loose combination of "Spaceteam" and "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes", Masters of the Internet tasks a team will quickly answering questions using fast paced internet research techniques. If a team gets a question wrong, they get a strike. Three strikes and the team loses. If a question does not get answered before the question timer runs out, the game also ends. The team who lasts the longest in the hot seat becomes the Masters of the Internet. This game relies on frantic, fast paced team communication and research techniques to drive play. Potential ways to engage non-active players would be to pull them into the game by either throwing off the researchers or helping them succeed. Inspiration for this idea can be found here

Citizen Z: A Fantasy Video Campaign Game

For 4-30 players
Citizen Z is a video production campaign game where teams create a persuasive video demonstrating a particular fictional agenda in an attempt to sway the population towards a policy choice. The class sees a fictional scenario to set up the game. Example: It is the zombie apocalypse! Do we kill all zombies, or focus on finding a cure? The class then divides into four teams. Each team is assigned a side of the argument and must create a video to support their side. They are given simple video making tools and can use any content for their video (i.e. taking images and clips from pop culture), but must produce the video themselves.
At the end of 30 minutes, all teams present their videos to the class. Then, using secret ballot, everyone must vote to take action (kill all zombies or concentrate on a cure). Votes are based on whose videos were the most persuasive.
Afterwards, all the videos can be posted to twitter with #CitizenZ

Other Game Ideas and Brainstorming

Media Agenda Telephone Player makes a video, player 2 remixes that video however they want, adding text, changes cuts, adding cuts, etc. The remixed video then moves onto another player, who then remixes it in anyway they want, and moves from player to player until it is seemingly no longer recognizable from the initial version.

Meme Telephone Players are divided into two teams, each of which is given a different news article. Only one person on each team is allowed to actually see the original article, and players may not speak to one another. Using a meme/tweet, the player must convey the article to the next person on their team, who must create their own meme/tweet to continue communication down the line. Once the last player in one line has received a meme from the second-to-last, PLAY STOPS. The faster team exchanges all of their memes with the memes that the other team managed to create, with each stack shuffled out of sequence. Team members may then communicate with each other, and must try to reassemble the other team’s sequence of memes, in order to figure out the original article. The first team to correctly do each, wins.

Twine/Branching Narrative Exercise Players divide into small groups, each sharing a general story prompt (e.g. “A young person discovers something surprising”). Each group will collaboratively create a short story with a traditional linear narrative based on the prompt. After discussing how to expand their story further, each team will use Twine to generate a brief branching story based on their original narrative.

Profiles Some of the games possibly involve matching rhetorical statements/media to generalized characters, to highlight different factors that affect news literacy or participation in digital culture. Variables such as economic stability, amount of free time, or digital access/literacy influence how media is consumed and created online.