[game_edu] The Metagame

[John Sharp]

A slightly out-of-the-ordinary post, but I thought you all might be interested the Metagame, a card game that encourages discussion about videogame aesthetics. The game was created by Eric Zimmerman, Colleen Macklin, Mike Edwards and myself under the guise of Local No. 12. We’ve started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production of decks. It ends in just 3 days, so if you’re interested in a deck of your own or supporting the project act now: http://kck.st/eR1v7d. See the announcement below for more details.

John Sharp
Professor, Interactive Design & Game Development
Savannah College of Art and Design
1600 Peachtree Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
jsharp at scad.edu
phone: 404-253-3209
fax: 404-253-2723

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The Metagame is a card game about videogames that supports critical discussion of videogame aesthetics. It is simple to learn and fun to play. It can be played by a small group of game fans, a classroom of students, or by thousands at a conference.
You play the game by combining game cards — videogame trading cards — with comparison cards:

Which game is deeper: Grand Theft Auto or Passage?   

Which game is more visually beautiful: Pac-Man or Asteroids?   

Which game had a bigger impact: Tetris or DOOM? 

You challenge another player and each of you has a couple minutes to argue one side. Any nearby bystanders judge and vote on the winner.  For more information about the game, visit the project website at: www.metaga.me. 

Due to the wild success of the game at GDC 2011, we are turning to Kickstarter to make a “home version” for people to play in their homes, classrooms, and at conferences and events: http://kck.st/eR1v7d

We're using the funds to print full decks of the Metagame with more than 100 cards that we'll send to our supporters and also distribute online.  There are several levels of support, including $25 for a full deck, and $125 for five decks for academic programs and small-scale events. The campaign ends on Friday April 8, so act soon if you are interested!

The Metagame gets people talking about games in smart ways. It is great for classes about games, for opinionated game fans, or for people that like playing social games. And how cool is it to have your own set of videogame trading cards?


For more about how the game evolved, Eric has written a blog post about the secret history of the game design (http://bit.ly/gBnY3U). Local No.12 has also blogged about the design principles behind the game (http://bit.ly/gxGazT) as well as a postmortem on the game's performance at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (http://bit.ly/hVes8v). 

The Metagame is an experiment in social play, brought to you by the game designers at Local No.12 – Mike Edwards, Colleen Macklin, John Sharp, and Eric Zimmerman. For more about us and our work, visit www.localno12.com.




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