Observance
What made the experience fun or not?
The experience was fun because if you are the immigrants, you don’t know where your opponents players are and its the mystery of where the green card and the churches are. The game gets a lot easier once you find the green card so you can escape. If you are the boarder patrol, you get to choose where the green card is and the churches. You also have the opportunity to block the immigrants and do search formats that will help sweep them from the board.
What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing?
The motivating factor for the immigrants is to find the green card to escape. The motivating factor for the search patrol is to find where the immigrants are and wipe them off the board.
Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game?
Yes the game is persuasive because it is subtly trying to show you what the boarder is like in real life and is trying to influence your beliefs and social understandings.
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
It compares immigration to the game battleship. The mechanic that stands out is the search and hide characteristic of the game that reinforces the cat and mouse dynamic at the boarder.
How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for?
The gameplay can feel uncomfortable and strategic rather than playful. It often creates empathy for immigrants because they are positioned as vulnerable and constantly under threat of being “found.” Depending on the role you play, it can also make you reflect on the system itself rather than just one side.
Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for?
Yes it can be considered an activist or persuasive game. It advocates for critical reflection on U.S. border politics and immigration enforcement by exposing how the system reduces complex human experiences into tactical operations.
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Observance is a board game modeled after Battleship that explores immigration and border patrol. One player hides as immigrants while the other searches as border enforcement, creating a tense strategy gameplay. Through simple mechanics, the game critiques how border systems treat human movement like a tactical game.
5 new ideas:
- Concept:
A workplace simulation game where players navigate a corporate environment over 10 in-game years.
Gameplay:
Players choose a character (with gender identity affecting how systems respond to them) and make decisions about speaking up in meetings, negotiating salary, reporting harassment, or balancing family expectations. The same choices produce different outcomes depending on the character’s gender.
Serious Purpose:
The game demonstrates wage gaps, bias in performance reviews, emotional labor expectations, and the “double bind” women often face (too assertive vs. not assertive enough).
Core Message:
Sexism is systemic, not just individual.
2. Concept:
A life-simulation game where players are randomly assigned a socioeconomic status at birth.
Gameplay:
Players make decisions about education, healthcare, housing, and employment, but available choices vary depending on starting income. Random events (medical emergencies, job loss, inheritance, networking opportunities) dramatically affect trajectories.
Serious Purpose:
Shows how structural inequality shapes life outcomes beyond “working hard.”
Core Mechanic:
Two players can play side by side and compare how different their opportunities are.
3. Concept:
A narrative-driven decision game about navigating everyday spaces (school, stores, job interviews, police encounters).
Gameplay:
Players experience branching storylines where microaggressions, profiling, or cultural assumptions affect outcomes. Dialogue choices influence trust, safety, and social standing.
Serious Purpose:
Encourages empathy by demonstrating how race shapes daily interactions in subtle and overt ways.
Core Message:
Bias operates both structurally and interpersonally.
4. Concept:
A strategy game where players run for local office in a politically divided town.
Gameplay:
Players must balance campaign promises, donor influence, public opinion, and personal values. Decisions affect approval ratings, media coverage, and policy outcomes.
Twist:
Accepting corporate donations may help you win but limits the policies you can realistically pass.
Serious Purpose:
Explores political compromise, corruption, and voter polarization.
Core Message:
Political systems shape what leaders can actually accomplish.
5. Concept:
A time-management and survival simulation about being a nontraditional adult college student.
Gameplay:
Players juggle coursework, a job, childcare, financial stress, and social isolation. Energy and time are limited resources. Unexpected events (sick child, overtime shifts, tuition hikes) force difficult trade-offs.
Serious Purpose:
Highlights barriers adult learners face that traditional students may not.
Core Message:
Higher education is not equally accessible for everyone.
Reading Questions:
what learning games have you played? can you categorize them by the theory of learning types: behaviorism, constructivism, constructivism or social nature? if you played more than one which was the most effective?
Behaviorism:
Duolingo – Uses streaks, points, levels, and instant feedback to reinforce correct answers.
Constructivism:
Minecraft – Players learn by building, experimenting, and solving spatial or logic problems.
Social Nature:
Among Us – Encourages communication, deduction, and social reasoning.
is gamification bullshit, what is ian bogost’s argument and do you agree? where have you encountered it outside of class and what was your experience?
Ian Bogost argues that gamification is “bullshit” because it often reduces games to superficial elements like points, badges, and leaderboards without capturing what actually makes games meaningful. He says companies use gamification as a marketing tool to manipulate behavior rather than create genuine engagement.
I partially agree because many gamified systems feel shallow and rely on extrinsic rewards, which can lose effectiveness over time. However, when thoughtfully designed, gamified systems can motivate participation, and they just shouldn’t replace meaningful design.
Ive encountered it in apps that aren’t game but have a point system like Starbucks or Sheetz.
What is a serious game and why aren’t they chocolate covered broccoli?
A serious game is a game designed primarily for education, training, activism, or social impact rather than pure entertainment. Examples include military simulations, health training games, and persuasive games like Observance. They are not “chocolate covered broccoli” when the gameplay itself meaningfully connects to the message. The phrase suggests disguising boring education with fun elements, but strong serious games integrate learning into the mechanics so that playing the game is the learning and not just sugar on top of a lecture.