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12 thoughts on “Game Review: Casual Games for Protesters”
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Games at Work: Participation, Procedure and Play
BARD COLLEGE — IDEA 135
Post reviews of Casual Games for Protesters in the comments section below.
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I’ve been thinking about how the conceptual meanings behind Paolo’s games can demonstrate how some attend protests while not actually exerting meaningful effort or contributing significantly towards a cause. Individuals who are not affected by a particular issue have the privilege of attending a protest and being able to play these games without jeopardizing their safety. Paolo mentioned the Black Lives Matter movement in his presentation, noting that it was the type of movement that would not be an appropriate setting for these sorts of games. However, I could realistically see non-POC trying to play some of these at a BLM protest. I’m in agreement with Bel’s comments last class about the role of privilege; ultimately, if you feel compelled to play these sorts of games at an actual protest, it’s probably time to take a step back and think about why you’re even going in the first place.
Thanks Aileen! Interesting post! I’m interested in this idea about a potential link between play and privilege. If my memory serves me correctly, Paolo mentioned BLM as an example of a movement that is not thought to be playful because of the life-and-death urgency of its message, but which has very effectively used “tactical memes” including hashtags and call-and-response chants/gestures (“Hands up/Don’t Shoot”). To clarify, I don’t remember him saying that his games should not be played at BLM rallies.
I think that these games have a lot of potential to motivate people to actively participate in protests. I particularly like the game, “Sign me up”, in which one asks people what protest they would rather be at, and then they make a sign for that protest. The power of games to bring people together should not be underestimated. Play is a very powerful force and adding playful elements to serious subjects can make them more alive and would probably draw more attention to them. Silly can be political. I think we as a community focus too much on the serious and perhaps we just need to goof around a bit more as Paolo suggests.
These game are pretty funny and seem entertaining, but like a Aileen said, protests seem like a weird place for them. They seem like city exploration or roadtrip games. As games for protests, it seems weird to have something to help with boredom or act as a diversion because it detracts from the actual point of a protest. In the sense that it brings people together, it feels like these games are very successful. It is a good tool to provide a feeling of community or act as an ice breaker, and I will probably play the hacker/guard security camera game when I am back in Chicago.
I am i strong believer in the kind of power that games have to invoke thoughts, emotions, and even change. I also believe that protests have the power to create change. However I don’t think the two necessarily work in the same ways. I thought some of Paolo’s games were interesting and helpful, such as the game wherein a person brings supplies for others to use at a protest, but others seemed to be out of place. Games and protests can be agents of change, but where games often deal with the internal protests have to do with the external. The games Paolo presented seemed to cater to this more, but not on nearly the level that protests do on their own. In this sense the games were intriguing but felt in a way like they shrunk the experience of a protest and its expanded goals to a more internal and individualized experience that is typical of games. I suppose I couldn’t really see these games being played on a large enough scale to encourage the kind of solidarity and intent that protests have on their own.
I have mixed feelings about these Casual Games for Protest. I find them interesting, and would definitely even consider playing something of them, but the somewhat snarky tone and gamification of something serious is kind of disconcerting to me. This is not to say that games are inherently not serious though. I think this is why I found the collection of these games so interesting. Some of the “games”, or rather, game scripts act as a type of simulation, or means of studying certain interactions that often happen at protests. And some even are just simple games that riff off of protest concepts, like “Peace, War, Revolution”. The one’s that I found more unsettling were games like “mind reading” and “the blame game”, because of their heckling nature.
Despite my absence from Paolo’s talk, I was able to develop an understanding of “Casual Games for Protestor” by reading through the web page. I quickly found many of these games to be quite reminiscent of event scores, which was a nice surprise. Some of these were extremely creative and represented the power of Paolo’s mind. However, I found the majority of these “games” to be problematic, mostly because they are only possible when viewing protests and other political activity to be “playful” and “silly” which may not what most people interpret protests to be. I know many activists who take their behavior very seriously and could potentially be offended by this type of play. Whereas on the other hand, I also know activists who constantly refer to protesting as a “fun” activity. Even though I don’t find these games to be very practical or plausible, I did enjoy reading about them and I do have an appreciation for the conceptual effort Paolo has put into creating them. Lastly, as photographer, I found the games involving media to be incredibly awesome – such as the one in which both players must attempt to capture footage of the other, and whoever has the most wins.
These protest games vary widely in structure, playability, and utility. Not all seemed inherently rooted in protest, but were merely made political via their intention. It seems like the people who would participate in these games at a protest or who would see these games as protest themselves most likely aren’t meaningfully affected by whatever is being protested against. Nevertheless, the addition of bodies to any protest is essential, even as some may approach the event from a more lighthearted perspective. Games like “Human Chain” and “Conspiring Means to Be Together” seemed to contribute real solidarity or safety tactics one might realistically need during a protest. Others, like “Clown Dance” seemed playable only from a position of privilege, which others have pointed out. I didn’t get to play test many of these games, but I understood them by watching at Paolo’s talk.
I think these games are interesting because they present an alternative way to think about protests, the police, surveillance, and other serious political issues in a seemingly non-serious way as they are games. However, I suppose that is part of the discussion on whether or not playing games can be a serious activity. I the games on their own are in fact serious rather than silly or making fun of protests as even just reading the rules prompts you to think beyond the game and about larger social issues (such as with the game Woman or Concept). However, I do wonder whether large groups of people playing these games during a protest could help or hinder the protest.
The idea of making games for people to play at protests was strange to me. We talked about it some in class, and I still can’t get over how mentally wrong that seems. Art can be about making people uncomfortable so I understand it in that respect. Some of the games are very thought provoking though, which is interesting because maybe it’s a way to stimulate the thought of people who are more drawn to the idea of games rather than serious and deep issues. I think that aspect of the games is one that could be expanded on further.
I really believe games can motivate people to do something they really want but maybe do not have confidence or energy. The Protestors game is a good way to make people “take action” not just think about it. However, in another way, maybe this kind of game can make people thinking deeply their situation and realize what they should and shouldn’t do. For me, this kind of game is a good way to motivate people, especially in some communisms and censorships to lead people to think about themselves indirectlly.
I think Paolo’s protest games implied a very unusual outlook on what should happen at a protest. The idea sort of caught me off guard: playing games and protesting seem like polar opposites to me. Games are mostly played within a non-real scenario to provoke amusement, while protests are used to try and implement serious change in reality. I understand his logic though, as most protests I’ve been to have frequently involved standing still for extended periods of time. However, standing still is what I feel is the point of a protest: It’s not suppose to be fun, and the fact that it isn’t fun only helps emphasize how people are sacrificing time and comfort to protest on things that matter to them. I appreciate his creativity, but I do not think games and protests should go together. To me, pairing pairing games and protests seem to go against the main point of why we protest in the first place.