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In today's FunLog you'll find an entry called "Of Geese, Wolves, Games and Culture." It has some bearing on what we did last session and what we'll be doing for the rest of the class.
There's also a piece I wrote a while ago, called "The Theater of Games," which you might also find relevant, and maybe even entertaining.
Jess has posted a thought-provoking meditation on the "Flood Game Issue." Her thoughts and those of the people who've chosen to comment on them, are profound and provocative.
I think she is correct in saying that this discussion is too sensitive and complex to attempt to resolve in class, on the other hand, I find it highly relevant to any designer who looks at games as an expressive medium.
Several times during our exploration of Pachisi, Tracy mentioned Backgammon. FY basic I, here is a great collection of backgammon variants.
Now, don't go crazy with this. Just use it as a kind of loosening-up exercise as you go about exploring your own Pachisi-like game. Since we're looking for a "themed" version, you might take a quick glance at another game in the Pachisi family - the Egyptian game of Senet. Note how aspects of a life-theme are introduced with squares that stand for "happiness," "truth" and "rebirth." This is the direction that you should be going in your Pachisi interpretation.
The main imagery of the game clearly has a lot to do with chance. So, whatever theme you select, it will need to reflect some of the classic issues of fate, randomness, forces beyond our capacity for control. What's been happening to the people in New Orleans, for example. Then there's the question of strategy and what potency logic really has in the situation you're exploring. In Pachisi, you found yourself bored when you couldn't exercise more logic. But, referring again to New Orleans, what role does strategy play for most of the people involved in the experience. The "citizens" are clearly the main pieces in the game and there are some limited strategies that they can exercise - like help each other. The "authorities" are more like random factors, sadly. When and where they appear might be determined by drawing from a set of cards, or a special throw.
Give yourself time to make something that you feel depicts some significant relationship between players and the universe that is meaningful to you personally. Give yourself more time to make sure that it: 1) provides players with an honest reflection of those dynamics, and 2) is fun! (as in: engaging, involving, exciting, time-warping)
Then figure out what snack would be most condusive to playful engagement.
You'll also need to make a simple sheet of rules so others can play.
We'll start at 6:40
I think the wikipedia article on Pachisi might be a good place to start as you launch yourself on your Grand Pachisi Muckabout.
As you begin to explore mods of the basic game, you just might find that bit about how, way back then, they used Cowrie shells instead of dice. Kind of makes you wonder what else you could substitute, and maybe even why. And once you read about the Pachisi-like game called "Charkoni," well, you just won't be able to keep from wondering what it might feel to move 25 squares on a single throw of six shells!
When you think you're ready to explore real world parallels between Pachisi and every day life, you might also find yourself almost more than amused by the discovery that Pachisi is a Cross and Circle game, with direct connections to things like mandalas, the earth and heavens, the self and the universe.
Play on!