scholarly journals Playing with the Anthropocene: Board game imaginaries of islands, nature, and empire

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Fair
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Environmental Intervention ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Presence And Absence ◽  
The Relationship

The figure of the island as a metonym for the planet is central to many allegories of the Anthropocene. These allegories build upon pre-existing discourses of islands as remote, vulnerable, and timeless, and often portray contemporary island nations as helpless, doomed, and disposable. This article focuses on one allegorical terrain that has received limited discursive and cultural analysis: analogue board games. Board game representations of islands are relevant to island studies both due to the popularity of island themes and because of the resonances between common island imaginaries and the form of board game play itself. Looking at three explicitly island-themed board games (Taluva, Vanuatu, and Spirit Island), I explore the extent to which these games reiterate or contest discourses of islands as sites of ahistorical insularity and alterity. I investigate the presence and absence of islanders in these fictional landscapes, the relationship between these ludic cartographies and imaginaries of ecological collapse and environmental intervention, and the articulations of nature, humanity, and empire that are literally at play. Particularly in the case of Spirit Island, these board game representations reflect the potential for the figure of the island to be reconfigured in order to imagine the Anthropocene otherwise.

Teaching Board Game Play to Young Children With Disabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 109830072098528
Author(s):  
Gabrielle M. Trimlett ◽  
Erin E. Barton ◽  
Caroline Baum ◽  
Gabriela Robinson ◽  
Lauren Schulte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Intervention Package ◽  
Game Play ◽  
System Of Least Prompts ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Young Children With Disabilities ◽  
Play Behaviors

We examined the use of an intervention package consisting of the system of least prompts (SLP), visual schedules, peer models, and contingent reinforcement to teach four children with disabilities to independently play board games and communicate with their typically developing peers. We found the intervention package with individual adaptations was related to increases in independent board game play behaviors. No changes in peer-directed social communication were observed. Our study extends the research on board game play–focused interventions by demonstrating the effectiveness of the intervention package for young children with or at risk for disabilities and their typically developing peers.

scholarly journals An Experiential Comparative Tool for Board Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Chircop
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Analytical Perspective ◽  
Design Perspective ◽  
Different Levels

In the field of game studies, contemporary board games have until now remained relatively unexplored. The recent years have allowed us to witness the emergence of the occasional academic texts focusing on board games – such as Eurogames (Woods, 2012), Characteristics of Games (Elias et al. 2013), and most recently Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games (Booth, 2015). The mentioned authors all explore board games from diverse viewpoints but none of these authors present a viable and practical analytical tool to allow us to examine and differentiate one board game from another. In this vein, this paper seeks to present an analytical comparative tool intended specifically for board games. The tool builds upon previous works (Aarseth et al. 2003; Elias et al. 2012; and Woods 2012) to show how four categories – rules, luck, interaction and theme – can interact on different levels to generate diverse gameplay experiences. Such a tool allows to score games objectively and separately in each of the categories to create a combined gameplay experience profile for each board game. Following this, the paper proceeds to present numerous practical examples of contemporary board games and how it can be used from a design perspective and an analytical perspective alike.

scholarly journals Remembering Yugoslavia: Board Game Monopoly and Cultural Memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Zala Pavšič
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Physical Attributes ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The article is dedicated to exploring the relationship between board games and cultural memory, the board game in question being a version of Monopoly which was published in Yugoslavia in 1986. To address this question, I conducted several interviews with interlocutors who used to play the Yugoslavian version of Monopoly and grew up in the eighties or in the nineties. Apart from exploring Monopoly as a metaphor and showing the specifics of the Yugoslavian version, the article aims to outline the potential of a board game to reproduce traces of cultural memory and how these traces are interpreted differently according to the generational and socio-historical background of the interlocutors included in my research. Moreover, the purpose of my article is to show that board games should not be analyzed only in terms of their physical attributes, fields and the playing cards they include, but also with regard to their reception.

scholarly journals Thinking “Out-of-the-Box” with Board Games

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1321-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B. Pierce ◽  
William J. Shelstad ◽  
Emily Rickel ◽  
Barbara S. Chaparro
Keyword(s):  
User Experience ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Measurement Technique ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
First Impressions ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Design Recommendations ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Art Style

This study demonstrates the user experience measurement technique of Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) with a commercially available board game. This method of study has yet to be tested on board games in the current literature. Participants experienced four phases of the board game - Unboxing, Setup, Initial Play, and Disassembly – and were queried for their feedback and expectations. Analysis of this data revealed several themes contributing to overall user satisfaction. Players gravitated to the art style, look and theme of the board and pieces. However, users were frustrated with the written instructions and fundamental mechanics of gameplay. These themes can be used for design recommendations and improvements. Overall, these findings show how OOBE can be applied to understand aspects of first impressions that may impact game satisfaction before game play even begins.

scholarly journals Collaborative Strategic Board Games as a Site for Distributed Computational Thinking

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Berland ◽  
Victor R. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
Interactional Context ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
Game Players ◽  
A Site

This paper examines the idea that contemporary strategic board games represent an informal, interactional context in which complex computational thinking takes place. When games are collaborative – that is, a game requires that players work in joint pursuit of a shared goal -- the computational thinking is easily observed as distributed across several participants. This raises the possibility that a focus on such board games are profitable for those who wish to understand computational thinking and learning in situ. This paper introduces a coding scheme, applies it to the recorded discourse of three groups of game players, and provides qualitative examples of computational thinking that are observed and documented in Pandemic. The primary contributions of this work are the description of and evidence that complex computational thinking can develop spontaneously during board game play.

scholarly journals Collaborative Strategic Board Games as a Site for Distributed Computational Thinking

2013 ◽  
pp. 285-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Berland ◽  
Victor R. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
Interactional Context ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
Game Players ◽  
A Site

This paper examines the idea that contemporary strategic board games represent an informal, interactional context in which complex computational thinking takes place. When games are collaborative – that is, a game requires that players work in joint pursuit of a shared goal -- the computational thinking is easily observed as distributed across several participants. This raises the possibility that a focus on such board games are profitable for those who wish to understand computational thinking and learning in situ. This paper introduces a coding scheme, applies it to the recorded discourse of three groups of game players, and provides qualitative examples of computational thinking that are observed and documented in Pandemic. The primary contributions of this work are the description of and evidence that complex computational thinking can develop spontaneously during board game play.

scholarly journals Language in Game Rules and Game Play: A Study of Emergence in Pandemic

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rei Masuda ◽  
Jonathan DeHaan
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Analysis Tools ◽  
Compare And Contrast

<p class="western"> </p><p>Language and games are both creative activities that can exhibit unexpected behaviors and meanings. Previous studies in the connections between games and language have focused on digital games. The current study investigated the emergence of language in a modern cooperative board game (Pandemic) and used discourse analysis tools to compare and contrast the textual rule book and oral discussions in observed gameplay in terms of speech acts and vocabulary. Unexpected language did emerge in the gameplay, and in general, the longer text and sentences of the rulebook contained more academic vocabulary, and the shorter game play language contained more slang and expressives. Limitations of the study are elucidated and suggestions for future research and uses of analog games for learners of foreign languages are offered.<strong></strong></p><p class="western"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p>

scholarly journals Influencing Attitudes and Preferences Toward Climate Change using a Multi-Player, Transportation Themed Board Game

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Xiaoyi Kjorven
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Life Choices ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Effective Combination ◽  
Collective Action Problems ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Game Board

Traditional tabletop board games have soared in popularity in recent years, and used often as tools for education and entertainment. Board games are an especially engaging format for studying themes of collective-action problem solving. This study looks at one of the most complex collective-action problems of this generation, climate change, and evaluates how individual attitudes and preferences may be altered by playing a board game specifically designed to influence how people relate to an issue. The board game Wheels was introduced and taught to 18 participants, who engaged in five separate playtesting sessions where observation, survey and interview data were collected. The study evaluates participants' attitudes and preferences toward certain transportation and climate change topics before and after playing the game. The game showed promise in changing players' preferences toward certain modes of transportation - increasing preferences toward electric vehicles and cycling, and decreasing preference towards gas powered cars. These findings indicate that the effective combination of select climate change game mechanics in a highly personalized theme may produce an engaging and entertaining experience that has the potential to transcend the game board and impact players' outlook upon real life choices.

Yes, We CAtaN Understand Probability

2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-138
Author(s):  
Susanna Molitoris-Miller ◽  
Amy Hillen
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Entry Points

This article presents ways to explore mathematical concepts using Catan, a popular board game. After a brief overview of game play, we explore considerations with many potential entry points for mathematical modeling, such as which resource is the best, which resources will be rare or plentiful, where to build, and risk assessment.

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