Games

The Tragedy of the Commons: A Card Game Prototype

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The Tragedy of the Commons

A Card Game Prototype by Mark Chen

version 0.1: April 23, 2013

4 players, 15 minutes

Rules:

Use a standard playing deck. Each pip is one cow.

Each player gets one suit.

Take the face cards and jokers out.

Shuffle.

Discard 3 random ones.

Start player is the last to visit a farm.

In turn, draw top card and decide whether to place it in the common pasture or to place it in private pasture. Place cards face down.

Up to 20 cows can be placed in private pasture.

Common pasture can only hold 60 cows before it is full.

[Designer note: Either this or maybe instead the common pasture can only hold 20 cows but is reset each round. Either way, the numbers probably need tweaking.]

Once all cows have been allocated, reveal them and see if the common pasture went over 60 cows [Note: or 20 if using the round limit instead of game limit]. If so, it has become full and all the cows on it from the current round have run away.

The next round starts, but the start player rotates.

[Because players go in order, earlier players can bluff about the number of cows they placed in either their private or the common pasture. It’s predicted that earlier players will use the common pasture while last player may lean towards using his or her private pasture.]

Optional rules:

  • Bonus 10 points for any player who places 4 or more cards into private pasture. [This hopefully encourages risk taking with the common pasture. Does one play it safe by throwing his or her high cards into a private pasture, lowering the risk that the common will go bust? Or does the player go for quantity of cards for bonus points?]

  • Bonus 10 points for any player who places 6 or more cards in the common pasture. [Again, this rule is meant to encourage players to take risks with the common pasture.]

  • Include the face cards. They are worth 0 cows. Players play 10 rounds instead of 7.. [This would potentially increase bluffing.]

Thoughts:

  • What if each suit had 2 1s, 2 2s, etc. up til 5s. Then lower the private and common limits to 10 and 30 maybe…

  • If this works, start tweaking the deck, perhaps adding suits, etc. and retheme with art.

  • Could scale with fewer or more players: Common pasture holds (15 x number of players) worth of cows.

  • A solo game probably be made where a dummy player is set up and the soloist just draws a random card from the dummy player to place in the common pasture each turn.

Games Research, Life

Announcing: Reed Summer Game Jam

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rgj

Join Mark Chen ’95, game designer & researcher—and friends—for a month-long game jam on the Reed College campus this August 1—23

Part workshop, part lab, part on-going brainstorm and creation space. During the Reed Game Jam you will:

  • Gain an understanding of the game development process:
    • Idea generation;
    • Writing a game design document;
    • Testing mechanics for both digital and tabletop games.
  • Learn about current state of games in academia &
  • Participate in hands-on research activities.

The goal? Produce at least one Kickstarter-ready game.

The Jam (in Psy108) will be open from Tuesday—Saturday extended hours; closed on Sunday, and open 9—5 p.m. on Monday.

INTERESTED? Email Brooke Hunter (hunterb@reed.edu) for the application link.

Deadline to apply Tuesday, June 25, 2013

So, here’re my August plans! Huge thanks to Brooke Hunter at Reed for making this happen.

This is primarily for Reedies, but others are welcome to apply. It’s basically a Maker space kind of set up. A bunch of smart people dropping in when they can to collaborate on game-related projects. I’m taking donations for food, transportation, etc. 🙂

Art

Giants illustration for Widget

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I recently did an illustration for one of the cards in the *successfully kickstarted* Widget, a zany card game by Kristan Wheaton!

"Giants" card illustration for the game Widget

Life, web 2.0

Ballard Writers Collective

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I recently joined the Ballard Writers Collective, and now I’m webmastering for them and doing freelance web work for local authors.

They’re a great group, led by Peggy Sturdivant, who, among other things, are exploring non-traditional forms of publishing, firing ideas in my head about how to find workarounds to the semi-broken academic model.

Many of the authors need web and new tech help. It’s easy and enjoyable for me since most of the work is WordPress related, but I forget sometimes how difficult it can be to enter the digital space, having basically been a cyborg my whole life…

Academia, Games Research

Games, Simulations, and VWs for Learning syllabus (download)

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Okay, this is the final version, for reals…

EDLT 728: Games Simulations VWs for Learning syllabus

Or as final as it can be before the course starts. Once it starts, it’ll be the Living Syllabus where we tweak it each week when new things appear or the realities of time hit us. 🙂

I threw it up under the Creative Commons share-alike, non-commercial license and posted it as a Word doc, so go ahead and (ab)use it to your heart’s content!

 

Academia, Games Research

Draft 4 Games Simulations and VWs for Learning syllabus

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Week 1, May 1-7: Why Games for Learning

Learning content vs. systems, projected identity, learning by/through design, theory of fun

Readings:

Optional Readings:

Games:

  • Set up Guild Wars 2 account and join guild.
  • Create a Steam account.
  • Select and play a tabletop game with family or friends. Pay attention to social dynamics, game mechanics and balance, etc.

Activities:

  • Browse The Hotness on Board Game Geek. Read reviews.
  • Introduce yourself, gaming history, and which tabletop game you played in the class forums.
  • Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

  • Tabletop game design: Think of a tabletop game idea that addresses an area of interest for you and write a one-paragraph pitch.

Continue reading Draft 4 Games Simulations and VWs for Learning syllabus →

Games

Race for the Galaxy, 102pts vs. Keldon AI

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I usually lose to the AI, but just now I scored huuuuuge. First time trying the drafting variant. 3-player game, Rebel v Imperium (haven’t tried Brink of War, yet).

Hidden Fortress is a monster, and, because I drafted cards, I had crazy synergy with 6-pt Devs that took advantage of that high military score.

Don’t know what the hell I’m talking about?

Read about Race for the Galaxy on Board Game Geek (scroll down to the Files section if you want a copy of the rulebook) and check out a user named Keldon’s computer AI version of RftG!

Mark's screenshot of a score of 102!

Academia, Games Research

Draft 3 of Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds for Learning syllabus

5 Comments

Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds for Learning

Week 1: Why Games for Learning

Learning content vs. systems, projected identity, learning by/through design, theory of fun

Readings:

Optional Readings:

Activities:

  • Set up Guild Wars 2 account and guild.
  • Create a Steam account.
  • Browse the Hot List on Board Game Geek. Read reviews.
  • Introduce yourself and gaming history in the forums.
  • Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.
  • Think of a tabletop game idea that addresses an area of interest for you and write a one-paragraph pitch.

Continue reading Draft 3 of Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds for Learning syllabus →

Academia, Games Research

Draft 2 of Games Simulations and Virtual Worlds for Learning course

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Prob could use more on simulations and VWs…

Also, haven’t added everything, yet… After that’s done, I’ll have to cut a bunch of stuff since it seems like a lot to cover in 12 weeks. Much thanks to Alex Thayer… I grabbed a bunch of refs from his course that I was a guest lecturer in about 2 weeks ago. 🙂 Which reminds me; I still need to scour the web for other people’s syllabi and see if I can incorporate even more stuff that I may have missed.

Continue reading Draft 2 of Games Simulations and Virtual Worlds for Learning course →

Games Research

thoughts on gamification and agency to determine own goals (in life)

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When I go to a cafe I want a cup of coffee. I already know how to order it. I already know the social convention of going to a counter and paying for it. I don’t necessarily think they should try to make that core experience into a game somehow.

Good games have interesting choices and compelling narratives. The gamification movement is focusing on the reward system, not the meat that makes good games good.

And, actually, when I go to a cafe, I’m already playing a game. Is it crowded? Maybe I should order a mocha instead of an americano so I don’t have to deal with the milk and sugar counter. What’s the most optimal way to get the best damn cup o joe I can?

I don’t want them to introduce underlying rules to what’s optimal. I don’t want them to dictate what gets rewarded, pushing me in a set direction. I want freedom to play the game the way I want to play.

When you realize that many parts of life… maybe all life… is a game, it’s very empowering. All you have to do is learn the rules. Then you can push and poke at those rules until you succeed. And by “success” I just mean you have agency in determining your own goals and getting what you want out of life. You have the power to create your own personal compelling narrative.

sporadic ramblings of a gamer in academia