Ideas that are compelling, yet unhealthy.Extreme Rock Paper Scissors Team Game
A high-stakes game of surveillance, deception, and intrigue.
This is a simple game to be played by two teams of approximately equal size, at least two people per team, but probably five is needed for things to be interesting. This is a zero-sum game, that is, it has a winner and a loser. The game will be most fun if there is a prize of some kind for the winning team. Each game will have a set duration, and this can be of any length. It should probably last at least half an hour, the most interesting games will last for months or years. There is no upper limit on team size, the game duration, or the prize.
The goal of the game is to win an ordinary game of Rock, Paper, Scissors played between representatives of the two teams at the end of the team game. The teams may use any method they wish to choose who their representatives are, and what they are going to throw. However, the throw of the representative is final, regardless of the team's stated choice, so representatives should be chosen carefully. In the event of a tie, the final match is re-played until there is a victor. Teams should take care to prepare a number of successive throws.
The Fun Part
At any time before (or during) the final match, the teams may attempt to spy on each other. By determining what the other team is going to throw, they can throw the superior object. At the same time they may deliver misinformation to the opposing team, thereby controlling their opponents choice. The difficulty (and fun) lies in determining what information to believe, and what information to let leak out.
The Stakes
The complexity of the game will be related to it's prize, duration, and team size. Given enough time and enough motivation, resourceful teams will invent fabulous ways to observe and mislead their opponents. It think it would be interesting, and somewhat less bloody, if nations used this method to resolve conflicts. Interestingly, the spy game would be largely unchanged.
This is a simple game to be played by two teams of approximately equal size, at least two people per team, but probably five is needed for things to be interesting. This is a zero-sum game, that is, it has a winner and a loser. The game will be most fun if there is a prize of some kind for the winning team. Each game will have a set duration, and this can be of any length. It should probably last at least half an hour, the most interesting games will last for months or years. There is no upper limit on team size, the game duration, or the prize.
The goal of the game is to win an ordinary game of Rock, Paper, Scissors played between representatives of the two teams at the end of the team game. The teams may use any method they wish to choose who their representatives are, and what they are going to throw. However, the throw of the representative is final, regardless of the team's stated choice, so representatives should be chosen carefully. In the event of a tie, the final match is re-played until there is a victor. Teams should take care to prepare a number of successive throws.
The Fun Part
At any time before (or during) the final match, the teams may attempt to spy on each other. By determining what the other team is going to throw, they can throw the superior object. At the same time they may deliver misinformation to the opposing team, thereby controlling their opponents choice. The difficulty (and fun) lies in determining what information to believe, and what information to let leak out.
The Stakes
The complexity of the game will be related to it's prize, duration, and team size. Given enough time and enough motivation, resourceful teams will invent fabulous ways to observe and mislead their opponents. It think it would be interesting, and somewhat less bloody, if nations used this method to resolve conflicts. Interestingly, the spy game would be largely unchanged.
posted by indrax at 9:44 PM
2 Comments:
I don't think most international negotiations are zero-sum.
scott:
True. I was thinking of the cold war, which at least seemed zero sum. There is some non-zero-sum wiggle room in the nature of the prize, such that even the looser gets something, and what the winner and looser get could vary over time based on other variables, such that you not only want to win, but you want certain things to be in place when you do. (ie, the winner gets the disputed territory, but the looser gets the sacred shrine, unless there is an open highway passing between the nations through the disputed territory at the time of the final match.)
This encourages both parties to work together towards certain things, even while trying to win.
Another variation:
Variable end time, a game that might never end, but might end soon. You work to meet the end conditions, or delay them, based on whether you think you will win the match, and if you think you can get a better 'prize' by winning later.
Set up right, this will encourage both teams to work towards increasing the prize (which hopefully involves accomplishing good things.) and delaying the final match.
I don't expect it ever to be a tool of international negotiation, but I think it would make a neat party game, and would probably work as a large scale internet/real world game.
One of my first ideas on this was a first person shooter, teams had to deliver R,P,S 'tokens' to a specific location, but if you kill somone carrying a token, you get to see what token they had, so you might get some information on what they were trying to play. (or trying to make you think...)
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