LOST IN EMOTIONS
A card game to learn about yourself
This game project is part of Game Jam activity (24-25 March 2023),
in the Game Changer EU (Foreningen Green Games Learning) event (19-26 March 2023)
organised by Gamucatex
It was designed under the theme: Lost in Translation
By: Arham, Deli, Shelly, Silvia, Tarn, Xenia
At: KUA
This game is dedicated to Alex Andersen (17 yro), our audience persona for the game.
50 shades of Alex Andersen by AI at www.craiyon.com
1. Description
"Lost in emotions" is a card game, where players match situations, emotions, and advice. There are many ways to play this game depending on the number of players, ages and reading abilities, desirable game experiences and playing goals.
2. Objectives and Reasoning
Many people tend to not talk about their emotions or spend enough time ruminating about them. This can cause depression, anxiety, or lead to harmful behaviours to cope with the unprocessed emotions.
With the game "Lost in emotions" the players will have the opportunity to explore different emotions by putting themselves in the characters' pants. According to the research of Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett’s learning to identify and name different emotions can support people's development and capacity to determine their needs. Being able to choose and name the exact emotion helps us to understand ourselves. Through fun and conversation, the game aims to promote players’ recognition of emotions from learning vocabulary to matching them to different daily situations.
“Lost in emotions” uses the Emotion Wheels developed by Human Systems with the goal to “… empower humans and systems with research-based tools and processes that prevent burnout, reduce turnover, and improve individual and organizational well-being.” (Human Systems, 2023)
3. Design methods
We did a test run using a few situation cards (white papers), emotional cards, and advice cards. In the beginning, we played the game by taking turn drawing 1 Situation card. On each card there were 6 emotional options corresponding to the situation. Each of us drew 4-5 Emotion cards and looked if there was any card that match the list of emotions on our Situation card. The rule was that we passed one card to the next player and kept the rest as quick as possible. Whoever found at least 2 matches first, could read the Situation and the two emotions out loud. The rest would then draw 3 Advice cards each and try to suggest the best solution in their decks.
Our very first prototype
The test run was very fun, full with both laughter and serious discussion.
It was a great time. So we moved on to produce the prototype on CANVA.
The prototype on Canva
For the Emotion Cards, as we had so little time, we resorted to help from our new friend, ChatGPT to help us describe complex emotions in simple sentences.
Thank you the AI for helping us understand our feelings!
After a struggle with the university printing system, we got the card nicely printed and cut...
Doing menial job...
Look how pretty they are!
4. Game Materials
216 cards in total + different sets of rules!
There are:
27 Situation cards
108 Emotion cards
81 Advice cards
5. Another test run!!!
Yup. It didn't work with the same dynamic because we had too many Emotion Cards comparing to the limited number of Situation Cards. This made the game move much more slowly and lose the chaotic fun we experienced in the previous round. So we changed the rules, and it worked magically.
An amazing German artist kindly drew a portrait of us going through the state of panic
for the game that didn't work to a grand discovery of the new rules full of hysterical laughs.
6. How to play THE NEW RULES
Card against Humanity-ish: (4-6 players; readers)
Deal 5 Emotion cards and 3 Advice cards to each player
Choose a starting player. This player draws a Situation card, they are the judge for this round.
The judge reads the Situation card out loud and places it in a visible space.
The other players play 1 Emotion and 1 Advice card they feel fits this Situation.
The judge reads each Emotion/Advice pair and chooses a winner for the situation based on the Emotion and Advice they think is best.
The winning player gets to keep the Situation card. Each Situation card is worth 1 point.
The players draw 1 new Emotion card and 1 new Advice card.
The next player is now the judge and the round starts again.
Keep playing till all players agree to stop or the Situation cards finish.
Count the points from the Situation cards and crown the winner!
7. The 3rd and 4th test run with the new rule and new players
In general the game was a success. People got some laugh, and some of us overheard players joking on their way back to the hostel, referencing the game. For example, "how do you feel boarding a crowded danish train" or "how do you feel being left to wash dishes alone." (Yup, hard life.) This might mean that the game did get people to talk about their daily frustrations more and feel positive talking about that too. However, this is just our optimistic speculation.
The challenges were that some of the players had problem reading English. The game dynamic, therefore, changed from the test run we had before. It went more slowly and at some point I thought that they might be bored to wait or give up on reading any further. Fortunately, at least that didn't happen not too much that they stopped playing.
However, we took note that this game could be text-heavy for some, and that we could do more to improve the design to accommodate their playing experience. We also would like to come up with new rules that allow slower playing experience with more time to reflect, discuss and dig deeper into the players' emotions.
Otherwise, with this set of rules, there should not be more than 6 players to keep the game to move fast.
Our victi... players of the 4th test run.
8. Further developments:
- Simpler Emotion Cards
Players with problem reading English or reading in general, including young children can benefit from simpler emotional cards. I think we jump the gun a bit by starting with the 108 complex emotions. We were aiming for teens but forgot that some teens or even adults struggle with reading too.
- The Need Cards
Apart from the Emotion Wheels, we also found these gorgeous Need Wheels that we see potential to translate into interesting games in the future.
- More Situations to match the Emotions
It is quite challenging to think, in very limited time, of mundane daily situations that annoy you or potentially give mixed feelings. We could come up with just 27 samples. However, I tried asking ChatGPT nicely again for more help. And it really can be a BIG help, of course, with little need for human moderation and adjustment.
Shall we start to worry about the future AI overlord now?
- More Gameplay Options
Logical method: You can probably take turns drawing a few Emotion cards and Situation cards and make a match as many as possible. Then you discuss with the group why you make such a match. The group individually draws Advice cards and try to match them with the Situation/Emotion matches.
Creative method: Take turns drawing one Emotion card and come up with a fictional (or real) situation. Each round you draw one more Emotion card and build another situation that fits both emotions, and so on. The game stops when no one can come up with new situations that fit all the Emotion cards on their deck. You can use Situation cards as inspiration.
9. References
Human Systems. (2023, March 16). Emotion Wheels & Needs Wheel - Human Systems. https://humansystems.co/emotionwheels/