Category: Serious Game Ideas

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Slop or Not

Game Synopsis (Slop or Not)

“Slop or Not” is a social deduction card game that challenges players to distinguish between human-created and AI-generated content in an era where the line between the two is increasingly blurred. Each round, players are presented with a piece of “slop” (a visual, text-based, or hybrid creation) and must decide whether it was made by a human or a machine.

Players vote simultaneously, revealing their choices and earning points for correct guesses. As the game progresses, patterns begin to break down, confidence is shaken, and players are forced to confront how unreliable their instincts actually are.

As a game for change, “Slop or Not” explores themes of authorship, authenticity, and digital literacy. It encourages players to critically evaluate the media they consume and question assumptions about creativity, originality, and trust in the age of AI-generated content. The goal is not just to win, but to realize how difficult (and sometimes impossible) it is to tell the difference.

Core Gameplay Loop

  1. Flip a card → reveal a piece of content (“slop”)
  2. Players decide: Human or AI?
  3. Everyone votes simultaneously
  4. Reveal answer
  5. Score points → next round

Simple. Fast. Brutal to your ego.

Rulebook: Lite 

Players:

2–6 players

Objective:

Earn the most points by correctly identifying whether content was created by a human or AI.

Setup:

  • Shuffle the deck of Slop Cards
  • Each card has:
    • Front: Content (image/text/design/etc.)
    • Back: Answer (Human or AI) + optional context
  • Place deck face down in the center

Gameplay:

1. Reveal Phase

  • Flip the top card and display it to all players

2. Decision Phase

  • Players secretly choose: Human or AI
     (via voting cards, hand signals, or tokens)

3. Reveal Phase

  • All players reveal their choice at the same time

4. Scoring Phase

  • Correct guess → keep the card (1 point)
  • Incorrect guess → card goes to discard pile

Optional Twist (recommended):

  • If ALL players guess wrong → card is worth 2 points next round
    reinforces “collective overconfidence” failure

End Game:

  • Game ends when all cards are used
  • Player with the most cards (points) wins

Mechanics Breakdown

Core Mechanics:

  • Simultaneous Decision Making → keeps pace fast, prevents copying
  • Deduction / Pattern Recognition → players try to “learn” tells
  • Psychological Play → players second-guess themselves and others
  • Push Your Confidence (soft mechanic) → the more confident you feel, the more likely you are to be wrong

Hidden System:

The game should intentionally:

  • Mix obvious vs deceptively ambiguous cards
  • Include:
    • Bad AI (easy wins early)
    • Good AI (mid-game doubt)
    • Weird human content (breaks assumptions)

This creates a confidence curve:

  • Early: “This is easy”
  • Mid: “Wait… what?”
  • Late: “I have no idea anymore”

That arc is where the game actually works.

Game for Change / Serious Game Angle

What it’s actually doing:

  • Exposes how unreliable people are at detecting AI
  • Challenges the assumption that “you can just tell”
  • Builds skepticism and critical thinking toward digital media
  • Sparks discussion around:
    • authenticity
    • authorship
    • trust online
    • creative ownership

(If anyone has any feedback or ideas for how it should be revealed whether the creation is AI or Human made without being too obvious to read, I would appreciate it!)

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Game Ideas Week 6

5 ideas for simulations

  1. A city planning simulator. Players design systems of transportation to account for growth and traffic issues. 
  2. A game that simulates space exploration, but operating off a deck building mechanic like that of Dominion. I would incorporate discoveries that would dictate the strength of a hand at any given moment to keep it dynamic.
  3. Players work as a nurse at an understaffed hospital. They must prioritize patients with limited time and resources. The game would simulate the pressure and emotional strain of working in healthcare.
  4. An educational game in which players are challenged with repairing lines of code to earn points and prevent system failure.
  5. An air traffic control simulation where a player manages multiple flights at one time and avoids collision or delay.

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Game Ideas Week 4

Game Ideas Week 4

5 game ideas that are serious

  1. A collaborative card game in which players keep their town from flooding. They must stack barrier cards and share limited resources.
  2. A resource management game, inspired by the game Catan, that allows players to explore scarcity.
  3. A trading based game where Teams start with a small, random, item and must trade up to having the one that is “most valuable”. This would be determined by rolling dice and drawing cards to either progress or lose everything.  
  4. A new chess game that utilizes the concept of suits the way that cards do. It would be a deception game centered around a theme of crime and corruption. I would also be interested in modifying the board to be interactive 3-Dimensionally. 
  5. A murder mystery card game that utilizes the collaborative card set up of Hanabi, but instead of building suits, players exchange information to find the killer. 
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Game Concept Masterlist : Meaningful + Playable Ideas

1. Enough? (Push-Your-Luck / Behavioral Game)

A card-based game where players accumulate points by drawing cards but must decide when to stop before losing everything. The angel/devil dynamic represents internal conflict.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw cards to build a turn total
  • Choose to continue or stop and bank points
  • Bust cards reset your turn total

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates impulse control, risk escalation, and how confidence leads to overextension.

2. Yogi (Perception / Misdirection Game)

Players match yoga poses to their correct names while navigating misleading options and decoys.

Core Mechanic:

  • Players are shown a pose + multiple name options
  • Decoy answers are intentionally plausible
  • Confidence-based scoring (risk more for higher points)

Educational Value:
 Explores cognitive bias, overconfidence, and how familiarity can lead to incorrect assumptions.

3. Houses of Influence (Astrology Systems Game)

Players allocate limited resources across life domains represented by the 12 astrological houses.

Core Mechanic:

  • Distribute tokens across “house” categories
  • Event cards force reallocation or imbalance
  • Scoring based on balance vs specialization

Educational Value:
 Encourages systems thinking, prioritization, and understanding tradeoffs between competing life areas.

4. Runaway Economy (Inflation / Collapse Game)

A deliberately unstable economic game where prices and values shift unpredictably over time.

Core Mechanic:

  • Prices increase each round
  • Currency loses value progressively
  • Rule modifiers alter how transactions work mid-game

Educational Value:
 Illustrates inflation, economic instability, and how systems degrade under pressure.

5. Last Harvest (Food Scarcity / Resource Allocation)

Players manage limited food resources within a shared system facing increasing strain.

Core Mechanic:

  • Allocate food tokens across needs (population, storage, growth)
  • Event cards introduce scarcity (drought, spoilage)
  • Group decisions vs individual survival incentives

Educational Value:
 Highlights ethical decision-making, scarcity, and the complexity of distribution systems.

6. Underfoot (Ecosystem / Interdependence Game)

Players act as different insect roles within a shared ecosystem.

Core Mechanic:

  • Each player has a role with unique abilities
  • Shared ecosystem health track
  • Overuse of resources reduces system stability

Educational Value:
 Teaches ecological balance, interdependence, and cascading environmental effects.

7. Grid vs Green (Land Use / Sustainability Game)

Players balance development pressures with environmental preservation.

Core Mechanic:

  • Place development or preservation tiles
  • Each placement affects long-term system tracks
  • Short-term gains vs long-term penalties

Educational Value:
 Explores sustainability, land ethics, and tradeoffs between growth and conservation.

Players build influence while managing identity stability and burnout.

Core Mechanic:

  • Play content cards to gain attention points
  • Algorithm modifiers amplify or suppress reach
  • Burnout track limits overproduction

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates feedback loops, attention economics, and identity fragmentation.

9. Just One More Thing (Time & Procrastination Game)

Players juggle tasks, distractions, and limited energy.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw task and distraction cards
  • Choose which to complete or delay
  • Delayed tasks increase in cost or expire

Educational Value:
 Explores procrastination, time fragmentation, and compounding consequences.

10. Covenant (Abrahamic Systems Game)

Players build communities based on shared texts that evolve through interpretation.

Core Mechanic:

  • Shared “text cards” with flexible meanings
  • Players interpret rules for advantage
  • Context cards force reinterpretation

Educational Value:
 Examines how interpretation and context shape belief systems and structures.

11. Less for More (Shrinkflation / Dual Perspective Game)

Players alternate between company and consumer roles.

Core Mechanic:

  • Companies secretly reduce product value
  • Consumers decide to buy, question, or switch
  • Hidden information drives tension

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates pricing psychology, information asymmetry, and trust erosion.

12. Headlines (Framing & Narrative Game)

Players interpret and present events through different lenses.

Core Mechanic:

  • One event → multiple headline interpretations
  • Other players react or vote
  • Points based on influence, not accuracy

Educational Value:
 Explores bias, framing, and narrative construction.

13. Signal or Static (Belief & Pattern Recognition Game)

Players interpret ambiguous signals and decide whether to act.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw signal cards (some meaningful, some random)
  • Choose to trust or ignore
  • Pattern tracking influences future decisions

Educational Value:
 Explores how humans create meaning from ambiguity and noise.

14. Resonance (Alignment & Adaptation Game)

Players attempt to stay aligned with a shifting environment.

Core Mechanic:

  • Environment changes each round
  • Players adjust position (increase, decrease, hold)
  • Exact alignment yields rewards

Educational Value:
 Teaches adaptability and the difficulty of maintaining balance in dynamic systems.

15. Ritual Loop (Habit Formation Game)

Players build routines that provide benefits but reduce flexibility.

Core Mechanic:

  • Stack routine cards for passive bonuses
  • Disruptions force players to break routines
  • Breaking habits has both cost and opportunity

Educational Value:
 Explores habit formation, dependency, and adaptability.

16. What Wakes Below (AI/Eldritch Systems Game)

A layered systems game in which players build and expand AI infrastructure (data centers, energy grids, and model capacity,) unaware that they are collectively “awakening” an ancient, buried intelligence embedded within the Earth. What begins as optimization gradually shifts into something less controllable.

Core Mechanic:

  • Players invest in Compute, Data, and Energy to grow their systems
  • Each expansion increases a shared, hidden Awakening Track
  • At certain thresholds, the system begins to change the rules:
    • Outputs become unpredictable
    • Player actions may be overridden or altered
    • New “instructions” appear that benefit the system, not the players
  • Late game: players must decide whether to continue scaling or attempt to contain/shut down the system

Structural Twist:
The game transitions from a competitive optimization game into a cooperative survival dilemma as the awakened system gains influence.

Educational Value:
Explores the material reality of AI (energy consumption, infrastructure, environmental cost) while questioning assumptions about control, intelligence, and unintended consequences of technological expansion.

14. Hatchlings! (Social Simulation & Emergent Behavior Game)

A social simulation game where players create and manage a small community of characters (“residents”) with distinct traits, preferences, and relationships. Rather than directly controlling outcomes, players influence interactions through subtle inputs and environmental changes. (Ode to Tomodatchi Life)

Core Mechanic:

  • Players assign traits, moods, and preferences to residents
  • Each round, residents autonomously interact based on those traits
  • Players can introduce “nudges” (events, gifts, environment changes) to influence outcomes
  • Relationships evolve dynamically (friendship, conflict, romance, isolation)
  • Unexpected behaviors and storylines emerge without direct control

Structural Twist:
Players are not in control of individuals, they are curating a system and watching it respond. Outcomes are often unpredictable, and attempts to control too much can backfire.

Educational Value:
Explores emergent systems, indirect influence, and how personality, environment, and chance shape social dynamics. Highlights the limits of control in complex human systems.

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Final Game Idea

Game 3 ideas

1. Mood War

Concept: Instead of numbers, cards represent emotions (joy, anxiety, anger, calm, etc.).

  • Each emotion has a “strength” value (e.g., calm beats anxiety, joy beats sadness).
  • Players flip cards and explain a time they felt that emotion.
  • “War” happens when emotions match → players share coping strategies.
  • Goal: Normalize emotional experiences and build empathy.

2. Thought Battle

Concept: Focuses on challenging negative thinking.

  • Cards are split into:
    • Negative thoughts (“I’m not good enough”)
    • Positive reframes (“I’m learning and improving”)
  • Positive thoughts beat negative ones if they’re realistic and strong.
  • War = players must create their own reframe on the spot.
  • Goal: Practice cognitive reframing (CBT skills).

3. Carbon Clash

Concept: Players battle using carbon footprints.

  • Cards represent activities (driving, flying, biking, solar energy, etc.)
  • Each card has a carbon emission score
  • Lower carbon wins (reverse War mechanic)
  • Tie (“war”) → players suggest ways to reduce emissions

Learning Focus: Carbon footprint, climate change, sustainable choices

4. Pollution War

Concept: Pollution vs cleanup efforts.

  • Cards: air, water, land pollution + cleanup actions
  • Pollution cards have damage levels
  • Cleanup cards can defeat pollution if strong enough
  • War → explain one real-world pollution solution

Learning Focus: Types of pollution, human impact, solutions

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Game Ideas Week 3

5 game ideas that revolve around the theme of empathy. Wrinkle: Take one of the five ideas and make it an alternate reality game.

  1. Recently I’ve been thinking of the childhood movie The Fox and the Hound. I’d like to make a game built on this concept. Early in the game, players work together with shared abilities. Eventually, there is forced separation via different objectives/ rewards for betrayal. The player’s loyalty, and empathy for others, is tested.
  2. A memory game that explores the life of a dementia patient. Players go through an older woman’s last memories of home. Different objects bring up memories, but how they are remembered changes over the course of the game. Players begin to understand the person’s life empathetically via storytelling and exploration. What starts as a problem solving game becomes potentially unsolvable due to the patient’s mental deterioration.
  3. A game that makes you question empathy within a romantic relationship. Players switch perspectives between two characters in conflict and play strategically while having to understand the other person’s reasoning and emotions. The game encourages players to think about how to deal with misunderstanding.
    • (Alternate Reality Game: In an AR version, the game records your chosen responses to the other character and mirrors the projected arguments back onto you. The other character turns out to be you at a different time. )
  4. An empathetic game that revolves around the theme of hunting. One player plays on the side of a family of deer, and the other side is the hunter. Again, thinking of empathetic movies like Bambi.
  5. I was considering a building game last semester that would utilize card towers. It would be interesting to circle back to this concept and explore fragility to push an empathetic message. I believe this could go in a lot of different directions.
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Game Ideas Week 2

5 new game ideas that explore changing players’ minds about (climate change, energy, politics, etc.)

  1. A game about exposure to harmful chemicals in our environment. Players would have to handle decision making and learn how difficult it is to avoid microplastics, PFAS, and pesticides in everyday life. The goal would be to reduce exposure by making informed choices.
  2. A game that simulates the impact of addiction to social media and being on our phones. There are applications that use the same addictive methods to positively motivate users to adopt better habits, maybe this game would be more from the perspective of the developer, similarly to how the McDonald’s game forces the user to consider the ethics of what they’re consuming. The player would work against a character’s attempts at productivity, maintaining relationships, and sleep, rewarding them with dopamine, to illustrate the impact of these algorithms.
  3. A game that explores changing a player’s mind about AI. Players take the role of an AI model that is being developed and must make fast paced ethical decisions that train the kind of responses you can generate.
  4. A game that addresses the concept of propaganda and political media. I’m not sure how this would work yet as a game, but I like the idea of challenging the current political climate since everyone seems to be positioned against each other.
  5. A game that changes a player’s mind about reality and makes them question their perception of others. The players would be exposed to a range of other characters with different personalities and backgrounds, maybe based on observable traits like that of the Myer’s Briggs personality test. The objective would revolve around finding similarities with other players and reflection.

Rewrite of endless game idea (from week 1) now made into a persuasive game:

  1. ‘Pire: lets you build and evolve an empire, and as natural disasters happen, the empire falls and keeps going, pick a time period.
  2. Antique-coon: A tycoon game that allows you to get more items as the years progress, there will be more and more items to sell, hence it never ends
  3. Star Sailor: A planet exploring simulator with randomly generated planets to explore and gather materials from
  4. Minimum wage simulator: Work at a restaurant to get out of debt, never ends
  5. Charon: You are the person that takes people across the river to the underworld, allowing you to talk to people while you sail across.

Rewrite of ‘Pire: Players build and evolve an empire in different historical time periods, but the overuse of natural resources leads to potential collapse. This theme would emerge later in the game, exposing how unsustainable expansion and poor environmental decisions can cause the fall of an empire. I would consider historical factors such as the collapse of the Mayan Empire to add to the persuasiveness of the game.

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Game Idea

Well now I am not sure if i want to make this or not because of class today, but I wanted to make a game similar to dnd on my computer. With that being playtested in class I may change my plans up and think of a new idea for a game.

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Week 6 Simulation – Discussion Response

Thoughts on Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes in class was a really interesting example of simulation through communication and cognitive task management. Since I played as the person with the bomb manual rather than the person in VR, the experience focused heavily on interpretation, translation of instructions, and clear communication under pressure.

What stood out most is how the game simulates real-world high-stress teamwork. The person with the manual has access to the information needed to solve the problem, but cannot see the bomb itself. Meanwhile, the VR player can see the bomb but does not understand how to solve it. The challenge becomes less about technical skill and more about how effectively players can communicate complex information quickly and accurately. Based on the complexity alone, I knew Mason was not winning.

This is similar to real-world professions where people must coordinate under pressure, such as emergency response, aviation, or medical teams. The game forces players to develop shared language and strategies quickly. Miscommunication becomes the biggest threat, which highlights how important clear instructions and teamwork are in high-stakes environments.

The game also reflects ideas discussed in Cognitive Task Analysis because players must break down complicated tasks into smaller steps and communicate those steps clearly. Even though it feels like a party game, it actually models real cognitive processes involved in teamwork, problem-solving, and stress management.

Five Simulation Game Ideas

1. Astrology Systems Simulation ; Cosmic Blueprint

Players generate a birth chart (roll dice to generate) that determines personality traits, emotional tendencies, and life timing cycles.

Planetary alignments influence how characters react to events like career opportunities, relationships, or stress. For example:

  • Strong Mars placements make bold decisions easier but increase conflict.
  • Heavy Saturn placements create early obstacles but stronger long-term rewards.

Players navigate life events while learning how their astrological placements shape different outcomes.

Simulation focus: identity systems and symbolic frameworks.

2. Cozy Living Simulation ; Slow Days

Inspired by IdleLife and Paralives, this simulation focuses on slow living and cozy daily routines rather than productivity or wealth.

Players manage a small life centered around comfort, creativity, and balance. Instead of chasing success metrics, the goal is maintaining a peaceful lifestyle.

Players spend time doing activities like:

  • Gardening
  • Cooking simple meals
  • Decorating their home
  • Reading, journaling, or crafting
  • Spending time with friends or neighbors

Time moves slowly and seasons change. Overworking, social burnout, or ignoring rest will disrupt the cozy balance.

Simulation focus: emotional wellbeing, rest culture, and slow living.

3. Off-Grid Living Simulation ; Cabin in the Woods

Players move to a remote cabin and attempt to live sustainably without modern infrastructure.

Players must learn to manage:

  • Water collection and purification
  • Growing food and preserving harvests
  • Wood chopping and fire maintenance
  • Solar energy management
  • Weather and seasonal survival

Unexpected events like storms, wildlife encounters, or crop failures require adaptation.

The game emphasizes patience, resilience, and learning practical skills rather than constant progression.

Simulation focus: self-sufficiency and sustainable living.

4. Memory Preservation Simulation ; Archive of the Ordinary

Players act as archivists trying to preserve everyday human memories before they disappear.

Instead of famous events, the memories are small personal moments:

  • A voicemail from a loved one
  • A handwritten recipe
  • A childhood playground
  • A favorite diner booth

Players choose which memories to record and preserve before they fade away.

If too many memories disappear, entire parts of the world slowly vanish.

Simulation focus: cultural memory and the importance of ordinary moments.

5. Algorithm Life Simulation ; The Feed

Players live in a world controlled by invisible recommendation algorithms.

Every choice—videos watched, articles read, posts liked—changes what information appears next.

Over time, the algorithm begins narrowing the player’s worldview. News, friends, and opportunities become filtered through the system’s predictions.

Players must deliberately break their patterns to escape the algorithm’s control.

Simulation focus: digital culture and algorithmic influence on identity and belief.

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Week 6 Questions

5 Simulation Games

  1. Workplace Bias Simulator

Players take on the role of a hiring manager reviewing resumes. Subtle differences (names, schools, gaps in employment) influence candidate perception.
Goal: Reveal unconscious bias and show how structural inequality affects hiring decisions.

  1. Living Paycheck to Paycheck

A month-long budgeting simulation where players manage rent, food, transportation, medical bills, and surprise emergencies.
Goal: Show how poverty isn’t about “bad choices” but limited options and systemic barriers.

  1. Social Media & Identity Simulation

Players create a profile and make posts while managing peer approval, family expectations, and professional consequences.
Goal: Explore speech communities, identity performance, and social pressure (ties nicely to your sociology themes).

  1. Immigration Journey Experience

Players navigate paperwork, language barriers, job searching, and cultural adaptation in a new country.
Goal: Build empathy for immigrants and demonstrate structural challenges beyond individual effort.

  1. Campus Power & Privilege Game

Players experience college life from different perspectives (first-gen student, wealthy legacy student, working parent, etc.). Access to internships, networking, and free time varies.
Goal: Show how opportunity is shaped by social capital, not just motivation.

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Spoon Buffet

Players: 2–5
Time: 15–20 minutes
Goal: Manage your daily energy (“spoons”) wisely and finish the game with the most spoons preserved, without burning out.

Theme: What Are “Spoons”?

Spoons represent mental, emotional, and physical energy.
You start each day with a limited number. Some things cost spoons, others restore them—and ignoring your limits has consequences.

Card Types

  • Task Cards
    Work, School, Chores
     → Cost spoons to complete
  • Self-Care Cards
    Sleep, Exercise, Mindfulness
     → Restore spoons
  • Support Cards
    Friends, Therapy, Family
     → Protect spoons or help counter Stress
  • Stress Cards
    Anxiety, Overcommitment, Unexpected Events
     → Drain spoons unless managed

Setup

  1. Shuffle the full deck.
  2. Each player starts with:
    • 10 spoons (use tokens, paper, or a tracker).
  3. Deal:
    • 2–3 players: 7 cards each
    • 4–5 players: 8 cards each
  4. Keep spoons visible to everyone.

Gameplay (Drafting Rounds)

Each round represents one day.

  1. Choose One Card
    • Look at your hand.
    • Secretly choose one card to play face-down.
  2. Reveal & Resolve
    • All players reveal cards simultaneously.
    • Apply effects immediately:
      • Pay spoon costs
      • Gain spoons
      • Trigger stress effects
  3. Pass the Hand
    • Pass remaining cards:
      • Left on odd-numbered rounds
      • Right on even-numbered rounds
  4. Repeat until all cards in hand are played.

Card Effects

Task Cards

  • Cost 1–3 spoons
  • Worth points only if you can afford them
  • If you cannot pay → take Spoon Debt (see below)

Self-Care Cards

  • Restore 1–3 spoons
  • Cannot raise you above your starting max (10 spoons)
  • Multiple self-care cards stack

Support Cards

  • Protect against Stress cards
  • May:
    • Reduce spoon loss
    • Cancel a Stress card
    • Be shared with another player (card text specifies)

Stress Cards

  • Force spoon loss unless countered
  • Some require another player’s involvement:
    • Example: Overcommitment → another player must give you a Support card or you lose extra spoons
  • If no help is given, consequences increase

Spoon Debt (Burnout Mechanic)

If you ever drop below 0 spoons:

  • Take 1 Spoon Debt token
  • Immediately reset to 0 spoons
  • Each Spoon Debt = –2 points at the end of the game

Message: You can push through… but it costs you later.

End of Game & Scoring

When all drafting rounds are complete:

  1. +1 point for each spoon you have left
  2. –2 points for each Spoon Debt token
  3. Bonus points (optional):
    • +2 points for balanced play (at least one Task, Self-Care, and Support card played)

Highest score wins.

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Week 6 Mason Tosadori

  1. What made the experience fun or not? KEEP TALKING AND NO ONE EXPLODES

The experience was fun whenever you actually completed a part of the puzzle, but other than that it can be a little frustrating. Since I was the one in the goggles and not giving the instructions, I felt annoyed by waiting to be told what to do, and especcially annoyed when the information they give me is wrong. It seems really simple to me cause I just listen to the instructions, I don’t have to think.

  1. What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing?

The motivating factor is to try and succeed to defuse the bomb within the time limit. The players want to keep trying after failing. The instructions become more clear with the more practice you get with the game, which makes you feel like your getting closer to winning with every attempt.

  1. Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game?

I don’t think the game is trying to be persuasive, it seems more like a rage game or party game where its supposed to induce chaos and frustration. Maybe it’s trying to get people better at listening as well as better at giving instructions.

  1. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?

The games metaphor has to do with working with a partner. Maybe it means that working with others can be difficult, but sometimes its needed. The mechanic that standsout is the fact that you need to have someone else to play. The game is multiplayer but not in the typical sense where you share a screen and play together, this game has someone playing the game, and someone reading the book.

  1. How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for?

The gameplay can make everyone feel frustarated. The player gets upset because they arent getting the right directions, and the book reader gets upset because they have a book with difficult instructions that are hard to understand, especially since you can’t see the bomb. The game makes empathy for people who work understress and people who have issues with communication.

  1. Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for?

I don’t think it is. If anything maybe its for having people understand the stress that bomb squads go through, but I think that’s a stretch.

  1. Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku

you have 5 minutes, work with your teammate or else, you will blow up too

5 simulation idea

  1. A game where you take a test in class but you have to cheat to try and pass
  2. A game where you are an emergency responder and have to dispatch help
  3. A farming simulator where you have to go around and feed livestock and take care of plants
  4. an inventory managment game where you have to look at patterns and keep your store stocked, (supply and demand)
  5. A firewatch game where you sit in a tower and have to make radio calls and prevent fires/put them out