We have been discussing how to make the process of transition more fun/less fear, and help people connect with each other in the process. We guessed inserting this process into a game environment may make it more fun, while more information reduces fear. A cooperative board game would serve both, plus it also would help the players figure out how to cooperate (instead of compete, that we have mostly been trained in during our tenure of living in a country of western civilization).
This project, documented on the Transition Network website with the name Board Game: Growing Resilient/Growing Resilience is now complete.
The game consists of:
- All the players selecting skills they already have from a resilience skills list
- Setting up the board, creating teams, deciding on the difficulty level by selecting a baseline scenario and selecting who has the first move
- Rolling the dice, pulling cards as directed and reacting to them as a group
- Positioning the single piece according to how the game goes, and building up Fortune Cards
- Ending the game by securing a place in a stable-state society after a goal amount of Fortune Cards are collected
We played the game with a variety of people on ten different occasions using home-made cards and board, occasionally changing the game so it makes more sense and it is clearer what to do. All our experiences indicated, that in spite of growing and designing difficulties we went through during these test games, none of the plays failed to result in a rich and deeply meaningful conversation between participants as to what to do in certain situations. After completion we felt closer to each other, if maybe occasionally overwhelmed by the challenge of facing a changing society.
If you are interested in a copy please contact Gábor. I will send you a complete game (no box at this point) at cost, which will end up in the ballpark of $42, including shipping.