G4C Direct Action Games

Direct Action games “organize real civic action using games”

Tracy Fullerton
Part of what she loves about games is that they’re a safe space to rehearse or transgress and thinking of them as ways to take real actions changes this. Definitely thinking that games should do this is problematic. Free Rice is the obvious example of a game having real world impact. Problem is that it’s not about rehearsing real activities, you’re just practicing sitting in your living room. This is the first example she can think of, even though she doesn’t think it’s a good one

Stephen Duncombe
Loves games, but fears that even the best intentioned social action games often end up being “ether activism” lots of sound and fury but signifying nothing. As an organizer working on traditional direct action like marches got bored with standard actions. These standard strategies often lost their efficacy. The standards protest actions can actually reinforce the status quo, and this is why he’s interested in alternative forms of organizing and protest. One common problem is that we lump together lots of disperate activities as direct action games that may in fact be very different actions.

Tracy
Organize these activies on a grid: Motivated by in game outcomes <--> Motivated by Social or Civic Outcomes; In games rehearsals as actions <--> Real world immediate actions

Scouts (Boy and Girl) is like role playing a civic life, and you have leveling, game-like rewards

Stephen
GTA San Andreas is the opposite of a Direct Action game (hopefully)
Critical Mass is an interesting example because it has a kind of magic circle, a “real world game” where your actions are in the real world, but the experience is largely symbolic “prefigurative politics”

Ben Stokes:
Civic “Player Assets”
Time (volunteering)
Material Assets (donating)
Political Voice (advocacy)
How could designers play with these affordances?

Tracy mentions Urgent Evoke, which is not clear how successful it really is

A Force More Powerful – also about rehearsing real world actions. My criticism of it has always been that it’s a top down model of organizing. Player is like an organizing general.

Rosario Habitat–using games to train people to be involved in urban planning process.

INTERRoBANG – service learning game. Real world actions that you document and earn points for

Stephen–One thing you have to keep in mind when discussing ethical games is “Who’s ethics and how are they applied?” “How do you make a fun game to play in which what players learn from playing is how to take democratic action?”

Oh Dear God–Microsoft tester proposing “Patriot Points” so you get points for doing “patriotic” acts.

Tracy responds that actions need context, so scouts works because there is a rich context, advancement is meaningful within a community.

Stephen–Democratic games are not just those that promote democracy, but are actually created through democratic processes.