Back to basics

I’ve been following the tweets of a good friend of mine, Kris Rockwell (of Hybrid Learning) recently, as he’s been hinting at an intriguing little card-based game he’s been working on with Alicia Sanchez (Czarina Games) called Game of Phones.

Finally, Kris and Alicia revealed all at the mLearnCon recently in San Jose. Details of the (clever, and discussion-inducing – much like my Course Design Boardgame) game are described well here, but the most interesting thing for me was their design process, as shown in the slides linked below.

As they went through repeated playtests, Kris and Alicia made the game elements simpler and simpler – removing, at one stage, every trace of technology and focussing purely on the cards, gameplay and discussion. This idea of simplifying things down so that the initial aim/context is diluted to simple, but powerfully raw, parts, is one fascinating me at the moment.

Oh, and Kris, I’d like a pack please 😉

The Making of A Game of Phones

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