GAME-CHANGERS: THE GAME
A peerticipatory game show by and for the commoners
Game-Changers: The Game is a modular board game and game co-design springboard used to simulate discursive battles over the future shapes of society and economy. Players are divided into two teams representing seeming binary opposites, such as Team Capitalism vs. Team Commonism. Their objective: to collectively improvise compelling short storylines about social transformation in order to win the hearts and minds of the public and claim playing fields consisting of “new economy” buzzwords, real-world initiatives and related ideas.
To create their stories, the teams must use the Challenge and Intervention prompt cards available to them at a given time. Another, third set of cards, Wildcards, is composed of external events which offer unique windows of opportunity to sway the game’s balance.
Interactive audience members, referred to as the Peerticipants, can evaluate the players’ storylines in real time and, in doing so, affect their chance of success. Additionally, thay have the option to contribute prompt cards before, during or after an event, making the game a dynamic, part knowledge commoning, part scenario-building and narrative-honing tool.
With the Game-Changers: The Game e-zine experiment, we are offering a way for players to capture and preserve meaningful play sessions. Each zine features a video recording overlaid with played cards, current playing fields, team scores, and other elements. Scroll below the video to explore a rotating view of the game board, a clickable gallery of cards and an edited transcript.
More e-zines on the way!
Rulebook: On the way!
Event Setup Guide: On the way!
Print-and-Play:
Virtual Board File:
Downloadable files for uploading to Playingcards.io for a virtual play experience, including a card and board randomizer.
Propose new prompt cards or document co-created cards:
OPEN CALL for Game-Changers Prompt Cards (LimeSurvey)
When activating Game-Changers: The Game, players and peerticipants often create new prompt cards, playing fields, or unique configurations, adding to a growing repository of game materials for future players. Currently, this repository is organized as a humble spreadsheet, but we aim to develop it into a collaborative platform called the Game Commons Open Platform.
The Game Commons Peer Production License is designed to enable game co-creation and versioning while ensuring contributors receive proper credit. This evolving license will govern how game elements are shared, used and attributed. This innovative co-publishing model is tailored for analog games that are open, generative, localizable, storytelling-based, world-building, and potentially grounded in distributed research.
New Card/Playing Field Sharing, Use, and Attribution
Contributors’ chosen details will appear publicly alongside the cards, playing fields, or unique game editions they inspired. If you submit a card idea, your name or other details will be displayed on the card, if you so choose.
Edition Creator Interface (Work in Progress)
The Game Commons Open Platform will eventually feature an online interface where you can mix and match game materials to create your own edition of Game-Changers: The Game. For example, you might select 20 Challenge cards, 20 Intervention cards, 8 Wildcards, and 4 Scenario Wildcards from a wide array of contributions by others worldwide. While doing so, you’ll have the option to plug in your own content. Once your setup is complete, you’ll have the option to generate a PDF for printing or a set of materials compatible with a virtual tabletop simulator. At the end of the process, you can choose to share any new materials you’ve added as part of the "game commons," making your edition and its contents accessible under the Game Commons Peer Production License.
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