Witch Hunt, Emergent Play and a Few Project Notes

We played two great games of Witch Hunt (a.k.a. Werewolf) in class Wednesday. Just for future reference, Jacob, I ALWAYS tell the truth (unless, of course, I'm lying).

We didn't get a chance to discuss the games afterward, but I wanted to comment that examples of emergent play were rampant that evening. The rules don't specifically address the kinds of interaction that develop while playing Witch Hunt, except to say that it's OK to lie. What ends up happening is that players begin to analyze each other's behavior, form alliances, debate and attempt to organize or formalize processes that the rules only loosely describe. For example, when the voting became chaotic, Jay suggested that we each nominate someone else to "kill" and tally the votes. This was not in the rules but was an emergent structure. (Ultimately, his proposal failed.)

In "Rules of Play," Salen and Zimmerman argue that in a well-designed game, simple rules generate complexity and emergent play. I find this extremely interesting. When writing the rules for a game, one might think that being as explicit and complete as possible is the best way to ensure a successful experience (i.e. interesting and fun) for the players. Rules must never leave players in doubt of whether an action or behavior is allowed. Yet, rules that are too detailed, too controlling would result in a scripted experience that would detract from the meaningfulness of the game play. If, say, the rules to Witch Hunt stated that each player must, in turn, make an accusation before a vote is called, there would be less chaos but the rigid structure would detract from the fun. This is because such a structure threatens the game's illusionary world -- panicked villagers wouldn't be so orderly -- and because it gives plays less control over shaping the experience.

The two games that I am designing for this class (I still can't decide) will have simple rule sets, but, I am hoping, a significant amount of emergent play. That challenge I am giving myself is to create games for spaces in which people normally do not interact (or do much of anything at all, except look). Those spaces are a movie theater and a gallery. I am making games in which there can be interaction and emergent activity while participants are doing what they normally do in such circumstances. Can people interact while standing or sitting still and not communicating with each other visually or verbally? I am trying to find a way.

By the way, I wrote a entry a while back about an interesting incident that happened when playing Werewolf in another class.