Engage Game Nights

This page documents the preparation of series a of events dedicated to play held as part of the Engage Living Lab, a Concordia University research project funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec.

Synthesis

Background: Today’s Engage Living Lab activities foster social support through active listening and creativity.

Aim: To empower participants as full-fledged political subjects (Vergara 2020), and provide them with ways to collectively tackle shared challenges they face in society – for example reclaiming ownership of the mall as a social commons to build collective health. To develop a a scalable model to liven up physical marketplaces as spaces where communities ca develop and nurture social bond and belonging.

Paradigm: Naturalistic perspective, that is to understand realities as being subjective and contextual (Guba and Lincoln 1982); and critical public health as a theoretical lens, that is to help communities challenge structural barriers to health by transforming social and political structures (Greenhalgh 2009).

Format: Hybrid 90 min events where participants can share and recognize their mutual experiences, and move towards a common vision.

• For now online, possibly on Tuesdays, 14:00 to 15:30
• When spaces reopen, both online and in the mall, possibly on Tuesdays from 18:00 to 19:30 to benefit from all space at the mall.
• Pilot place: Quartier Cavendish, a mall with around 40 small shops at Côte Saint-Luc, a city with 28% of inhabitants aged 65 or more (profile).

Values: quality of cooperation, mutual support, intergenerational inclusion.

Team

Organization

• Ming, art therapy student in drama therapy
• Natali, art therapist in visual arts
• Carly, ...
• Brock, ... TAG member
• Fabio Balli, project lead – commons, health, and law, F / E (coordinator)

Supporting team

• Janis Timm-Bottos, art therapist, principal investigator at Engage Living Lab
• Rachel Chainey, art therapist, network coortinator, Art Hives
• Meghan Joy, professor in political science, researcher at Engage Living Lab
• Sandra Smele, sociologist, area coordinator at Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology
• Naj Khalili-Mahani, professor in neurosciences, director of the Media Health lab

List of games

Pax: number of players – Min: time of a session – Eas: easy (1) to difficult (3)

Title and link	Type	Pax	Min	Eas	Aim	Comments	Source
Commonspoly	Board	3-8			You have 20 rounds to use your Welfare and Legitimacy Points for the common good. This is a race against time and you win by turning all goods into common holdings.	Do it yourself, EN/FR/ES/PT	Fabio
Prototyping a game	–						Fabio
Dychosim	Prototyping	2+			Thematize daily life situations, and encourage participants to discuss their daily habits.	Co-created	Fabio
Molle Industria	Online	1			Reflect on democracy, cities, weapons, phone manufacturing, sex, religion, etc.		Fabio
Ncase	Online	1			Reflect on anxiety, trust, liberties, mental health, etc.		Fabio
Minecraft	Online	1+			Players explore a blocky, infinite world and can extract raw materials, craft tools and build structures.		Fabio
Flower	Online				Contemplative game to explore nature and create positive emotions.		Fabio
Synergometer	Board	3-6			Explore how the way we communicate affect our cooperation.		Fabio
Pandemic	Board	2-4	45		Your team of experts must prevent the world from succumbing to a viral pandemic.	Cooperative	Fabio
Duplicate Scrabble	Board	3+					Fabio
The Mind	Cards	2-4	20	*	Play your cards in ascending order without communicating. Timing is key!	Feeling based	Fabio
Tarot de Marseille	Cards				Symbolic game		Fabio
Exquisite corpse					Each person adds a sentence by only seeing the end of what the previous person contributed.	Paper and pen	Fabio
Bridge							Elders
Backgammon							Elders
TOPONA							Janis ?
Card games							Carly
Wordplays
Roleplay							Ming
Counting in the dark							Ming
Spectogram							Ming

References

Bibliography

• Balli F. Game jams to co-create respiratory health games prototypes as participatory research methodology. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 2018.
• Khalili-Mahani N, Holowka E, Woods S et al. Play the Pain: A digital strategy for play-oriented research and action. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021.
• Khalili-Mahani N, De Schutter B, Mirgholami M et al. For whom the games toll: A qualitative and intergenerational evaluation of what is serious in games for older adults. Computer Games Journal 2020.

Models

Time structuring

Montrealer psychiatrist Eric Berne (1964), who founded Transactional Analysis, suggests that we structure our time and relationships in six different ways:

Withdrawal → Rituals → Pastimes → Activity → Psychological games → Intimacy.

In a meeting for example, we will start by observing (Withdrawal, least intensity), then say Hello (Ritual), then do small talks (Pastimes), then realize a goal-oriented task (Activity). Developing fulfilling relationships requires however to overcome conflict (Psychological games), that is to shift from dysfunctional ways to obtain strokes (which we do because of the intensity they provide), to the ability to express authentic feelings, and nurture relatedness despite disagreements (Intimacy, most intensity).

An intermediate step between Psychological Games and Intimacy is Play (Cornell 2015). Play introduces more spontaneous and unpredictable interactions than an Activity, and can “foster intellectual and emotional insight with a positive feeling payoff [...]. The shift to play is an effort to capture the intensity and stroke value of the game while introducing a positive interaction in place of a negative payoff” .

Emergence

Emerging Change adapted by Balli. Source and credits:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5497574

Another concept which ensues from Transactional Analysis is the Emerging Change (Laugeri 2020), a three contracts method to develop healthy dynamics in a team. Laugeri describes two distinct energies in a team : the Planned energy of the team authority (leader or facilitator), driven by the survival of the group in its Environment, hence its performance; and the Emerging energy of the team members, driven by the love for the Activity, hence the quality of relationships. To balance these energies, Laugeri proposes to consider team members as a living entity, and to build a dialogue between the team authority and team members as a group and not as individuals. This transforms the Economy of Strokes (Steiner 1971): the scarcity created by team members competing to get recognition from the authority is replaced by the need for team members to mutually support, and give recognition to each other.

Today, the Emerging Change is mostly used for organizational development (Blattner 2020). Colleagues and I explored its use in neighborhood contracts, and I sketched how we could adapt it to mobilize thousands of citizens to rapidly develop a plurality of solutions to tackle  crises (Balli 2021).

Meeting notes and concept

2021 Sept 15 – Meeting

09:00 to 09:30 – Janis, Rachel, Fabio

• Discussions about the goals

2021 Oct 04 – Concept version 1

To foster the development of Intimacy, we could host a series of three weekly gatherings of 90-120 minutes, building on the two concepts presented above:

1. Playground: Participants are invited to play games that help reflect on, and develop capacity to collectively transform social and political structures, for example CommonsPoly or the Synergometer.
2. Emergence: Participants are invited to put in commons their very needs, prioritize the shared needs they want to address, and agree on collective actions to transform social and political structures. For this option, we should ideally have the same participants for the three gatherings.

In both cases, the group authority would act as a facilitator and resource person, and would not take part in the games or in the group discussions. Teams could run in parallel in Cavendish and online (easing interactions), or be composed of both people in Cavendish and online (fostering digital literacy), with times shared  to enable all participants to learn from the group insights, and share theirs.

2021 Oct 04 – Meeting

12:30 to 13:30 – Janis, Meghan, Sandra (Creges), Fabio

• mandate for public event
• align aging, how spaces evolve, with broader dialogue
• lot of people stopping by at the mall
• theme around the mall would be helpful
• scalibility -> use existing infrastructure, hearing different people histories around the mall - discrepancy between richness of visitors and manager’s focus on where people are seated
• defining health - contextual, posthumanist - maybe bring the question of what health means to the community?
• question of who will be outreached? traditional services ? governments ? link to affordable housing, services, Amazon move, etc.
• people respond to quotes ? how to locate themes?
• importance of building consensus
• one old path of institutions - some rules broken with some success - some forces work against democratization - hard online - also in medical care - discrepancy between expert and object
• methodologically how to get quotes? what link between the mall and health? relation to space - changing the place? map
• conversation starting with researchers moving to open ended questions as people move to the mall - some people are even terrified to enter the space because of the air quality for example
• elimination of illness - relook at fear of death, a topic? why antithetic to health?
• pick and add topics ? world café ? maybe as first session, then move to consensus and action?
• legislative theater for action, but requires resources and preparation —> maybe adapt to the rules of the mall with manager, municipality, medical organization, ...
• not same participants, more interests with incentives such as gift card
• university only recognizes communities as groups related to the university
• question of world café vs emergence: building collective identity beyond separate thematic groups? long term engagement ?
• even finding people to gather may be difficult - start at another end ? people however want to contribute, and
• itimacy - most related would be studio relationship -> know they can trust to create something together vs people all alike such as religious group
• example of emergence - balancing the oppenness, relatedness with planification
• involve elders - elements to acomplish with mandate -> one with end goal, one which does not
• the world café could also be used to relate all groups and keep a shared vision while keeping openness - with practical example helping structure
• do you understand the mall as a place for health, how ? maybe also with different stakeholders - part of an evolving initiative, series of processes
• have to integrate pieces of play?
• library/place to play? space in atrium but not usable as such - could be also to host a play night to host in the art hive + media spa

Closing

• Meghan: excited, new activities, interested in legislative theater
• Sandro: who to invite regarding geographical proximity, resources ethnoculturelles des ainés hosted dance for elders as another way to play
• Janis: UdeM living lab at CdN, do different phases, take a while for ideas to come in, Tue Wed Thu 12:00 to 17:00 at the mall, could be built on after dinner time, could begin - link to Naj, also to co-host
• Fabio: lot to reflect on, could start rapidly with monthly fix time to experiment with people

2021 Oct 18 – Concept version 2

On October 04, we agreed that the events should focus on the mall as a space to build health, gathering stories around the mall, helping develop a dialogue between the community and the authorities (mall manager, medical representatives, etc), addressing concrete issues such as air quality, as well as philosophical questions such as death. Beyond Emergence and Playground dynamics, we discussed the use of a World Cafe or Open Forum Tech to allow participants to explore their themes. The model of Legislative theather also raised interest. We spoke about a regular event hosted in the mall and online.

We could build relatedness as a fractal: in a gathering, within a month (4 gatherings), within a trimester (12 gatherings).

	1. Listening	2. Agreeing	3. Mutualizing	4.  Acknowledging
Facilitation	Listening circles Open Space Tech or World Cafe	Emerging Change Voting	Cocreating, making Prototyping	Hot chair Playing
Topic	Nurturing our health at the mall: sharing stories	What common needs to preserve one’s health
Skills	Listening actively Sensing	Finding one’s place in the group Overcoming conflict	Building on complementarities Solving concrete challenges	Celebrating Belonging
TA concepts	Time structuring Stimulation (Okness)	Strokes Three Contracts	Ego states	Strokes

These could take place on Tuesdays, with following structure.

Time	Focus	Setting – Mall	Setting – Online	Activities	Resources
12:00		Space opens
13:50	Alignment	Facilitators join
14:00	Opening	All in round (beamer) + on screen (mall view)		– Welcoming – Agenda – Rules of play	Collaborative document
14:03	Introductions	All in round 1-2 breaths per person	On screen 1-2 breaths per person	– Name – Inside meteo (how I feel)	Visual of breath pace (4 sec inspire, 6 sec expire)
14:10	Activity	...	...
15:15	Cristallization	All in round (beamer) + on screen (mall view)		– What I give/take today
15:30	End	Facilitators debrief
17:00		Space closes

2021 Oct 18 – Meeting

12:30 to 13:30 – Janis, Meghan, Sandra, Fabio

• mall manager - no use out of space (only 3 people), can offer a bigger space, or after the mall closes - furniture 4x4 tables
• first part with game nights with the aim to build relationships - Janis met Michal at IASC workshop - sand play - game prototyping - exhibit to share - nice for Winter - to open to more intentional activities
• idea of board game Pandemic and online games from Ncase and Molle Industria
• TAG game lab
• ways to explore what else could be done in the mall?
• bringing some ethnography ? ethics? not needed if part of art Hives activities, otherwise SPF  submission can be done well
• political role of mall? design to prevent political organizing - politics in barber shops, beauty salons, ...?  article from Meghan discussing with students - mall in Scarborough
• third-space - not apolitical but open, about hosting, facilitating - multiple ways to be political
• discussion of US first woman speaking for art-therapy - benefits vs inconvenients
• bringing representatives 
• creation-as-research / participatory action research
• https://ncase.me/ https://www.molleindustria.org/
• 1-minute cell-films about game experience? no need for research submission - proposed repository to upload contents
• frame-by-frame animation which can be both playful and teach how to use the phone differently? - check phones available / equipment available in the lab
• timeframe ? holidays in December - February ? start with games now? challenge of space ? event after-hours like 17:30? otherwise another place? library nearby?
• online event to start playing and discussing games ? starting event about games with Naj / Fabio in December?
• short presentation on fractal cycle
• Wednesday at 17:00 - From November online - From February in the Mall

Brainstorm stakeholders and how it builds on the games - who plays - what game

2021 Nov 01 – Concept version 3

On October 18, we agreed to start with online events from December 2021, to hybrid event taking place online and at the mall end January 2022. These would take place on Wednesday at 17:00, as we could organize more freely as the mall is closed.

We would host game nighs to build relationships and community, and move to monthly cycles as presented in version 2.

01.12	08.12	15.12	22.12	29.12	05.01	12.01	19.01	26.01	02.02	09.02	16 .02	23.02	30.02	...
Online									Mall + online
Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Game night	Circle 1 Listen, Agree, Mutualize, Acknowledge				Game night

2021 Nov 01 – Preparatory call

11:30 to 12:30 – Janis, Fabio

• Start at the end of January / early February
• The launch event to introduce games by Naj and Fabio was finally abandoned.
• discussion on creative writing mentioned by participants - confusion about relation with current activity - same people coming forwards - leave all open ? expectation to include creative tools / skill share from people usually not forward
• game as a method vs outcome ?
• differentiation between ELL activities: mall / health / build collective action ?
• for example creative writing yes, as a way for collective action
• cascading - sharing the tools - going to communities - not one monument
• balance between openness and deeper engagement with smaller, partly closed group to have political lever and build stronger relationship —> idea of cycle where people can join for a month with related events - closed group may disicentive participation ?
• a closing event such as exhibition could help
• think about political definition - need support from Megan -> creation of a new art hive very political vs developing belonging beyond Activity time-structuring (Transactional Analysis), keeping the relation despite conflict to build authentic, spontaneous relationships (Intimacy in TA)
• today’s ELL is time-structured as Activity - awareness building, does not go into facilitating the next steps
• it's possible to play around with online piece, and let physical space evolve gradually, and have limited time
• examples of small spaces which significantly impacted civil rights groups
• art hive as a place to create, but when an event is organized, it can become more political, with more opposing opinions - how to relate to it
• question of time: online worked better before 17:00 or after 19:00
• public engagement —> people from the mall do not come to online activities and wait for the mall to reopen / other people joining online but further from the mall —> try to reach both groups with a first online activity, with Momo streaming from the mall – Wed 17 15:00-17:00
• points to discuss next time : ?
  • defining politics —> individual / collective reflexion ?
  • agree on shared goal
  • question of online participation / platform

2021 Nov 17 – First game night

17:00 to 19:00 – Lennox, Melissa, Janis, + 2 pax, facilitated by Monica and Fabio

• Roundtable
• Introduction, link to food (previous discussion of CSS), narrative games
• Different kinds of players: socializers, explorers, achievers, killers (Bartle taxonomy)
• Presenting a plurality of physical games
  • Commonspoly
  • Dychosim
  • Pandemic
  • The Mind
  • Duplicate Scrabble
  • Tarot de Marseille
• and digital games
  • Fortnite
  • Minecraft
  • Flower
  • Molle Industria
• Inputs from the community
  • Chinrami ?
  • Bridge
  • Kings' quest
  • Leisure Suit Larry
  • Backgammon
  • TOPONA
• Open discussion
• Closing

2021 Dec 06 – Meeting

11:00 to 11:30 – Janis, Fabio

• Review of goals, event

2022 Jan 17 – Meeting

17:00 to 19:00 – Ming, Natali, Carly, Fabio

• Roundtable
  • Ming, drama therapy
  • Natali, visual therapy
  • Carly
  • Fabio
  • Brock to join
• Introduction of the project
• Open discussion
• To do
  • Check with the community, 90 min, maybe in the afternoon rather than at night issue of visibility, cold vs space
  • Get contacts from first event

2022 Jan 18 – RA meeting

11:00 to 13:00 – Ming, Nataly, Carly, Brock, Naj, Janis, Rachel, Fabio et al.

• Fabio shortly presents the project and new team built, possibly two more weeks to adjust before launch of activities
• Carly shares some inputs from 5 seniors from the Circle of Care, saying they would be interested in games with art such as drawing, games that encourage exercise and movement and creative writing such as poetry, and an activity around 14:00 ideally.
• Janis reminds the political aspect of the games, that is to critically reflect on the role of the mall in relation to health. When at the mall, time would be 18:00 to have the space available.
• Naj recommends to build on the model she developed (see bibliography).
• Nataly mentions link to drama therapy with Ming.
• Sirin shares interest in participating.

2022 Jan 25 – Meeting

14:00 to 15:00 –

• Soon