Spielebuch (Due: 1:15 pm on 1/22)

Carsten Holler’s Spielebuch, or Book of Games, comes from a longer history of artist, designers, and collectives assembling folk games and designed games in a bounded collection. Other examples include The New Games Book, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, or even Yoko Ono’s collections of instructions, Grapefruit. For this assignment, we will be developing our own class Book of Games filled with descriptions of simple play experiences. Considering the examples we played in class, design a play experience that can be played by four people with no additional equipment. The description or “rules” of your play experience should be around a paragraph long but can be as long as you need it to be. You do not need to make a “game” in the sense of winning and losing, however, you should focus on trying to create an experience in which a complex system develops from simple rules. Think Eclipse! To test your game, play it with your friends or those around you. Tweak it based on the results of play. Make sure your play experience can be completed in a few minutes and can be played inside the classroom.

Submit a pdf of your game using this link. Although later in the course it is expected that your manuals and rules are thoughtfully designed, for this assignment, a simple pdf with text and the title of your game will do. Games will be played in class.