� Class Notes - Project Brainstorming | Main | A little help from your friends �
6 January, 2009
MM Asshole Online
Bernie and Tracy asked us to reconsider the game Asshole (also called President, natch) in a digital format.
Asshole is a social card game, with an open license for creative meta-gaming. The outcome of the cards determines a social pecking order. The card game remains the center of the action, but the social pecking order can affect probability within the game. The game often involves compulsory drink; such that players who lose are forced to imbibe more, and thereby, presumedly, will lose their concentration at a faster rate.
So, to isolate the critical elements of Asshole:
1) A core card game with unchanging rules
2) Establishing a social hierarchy
3) Used to create and enforce rules and pranks
Rules variations include autocratic powers - the people at the top can order the people at the bottom around. Aaron illustrated this to me by ordering me to do pushups after he was President, and I was asshole.
How can you create that kind of opportunity for autocracy and cruelty in a digital environment? You can see from this quick mock-up of the President's interface:
The President can see the Asshole's screen, and a list of other programs that are up and running. The President can then choose to visit (with the eye icon) one of the apps, to modify or change or survey the contents close up. Or, the President can close that application as well. The other players can only see what is happening from the desktop view, and so can witness the President's arbitrary controls. Also, a chat room provides a forum for social commentary on the play and meta-play.
So, the game remains the same, but the stakes is high for computer players of MM Asshole Online.
Thanks to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Adlai Stevenson, and David Dreier for playing in this Asshole's game.
Posted by justin at September 29, 2005 12:48 PM
Comments
During class, Bernie suggested that instead of controlling the asshole's programs, you could offer multiple chat windows between participants. And thusly the president could view, manipulate and close the chat windows of the person at the bottom.
Posted by: Justin Hall ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://interactive.usc.edu/members/jhall/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 6, 2005 7:35 PM
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