Games Played

德国心月在病

Crazy Circus

Sayit

通雅令

Favorite Game: “Sayit”

Mechanics

In this game, players all have a hand of cards. On each card is a unique and whimsical drawing. Players take turns putting down a card, face down, and giving the other players a word to describe their card. Then everybody else picks a card from their own hand that best reflects the word chosen, and puts it face down with the rest. Finally, players vote on which card belonged to the player who chose the word. When it’s not your turn, you get points for guessing the right card and for other people guessing your card. When it is your turn, you get points for people guessing your card, however if everyone guesses your card, then you lose points.

Emergent Gameplay

The added feature of losing points is what adds the most emergent gameplay to “Sayit.” At any stage of the game, you are always trying your best to match word and image. When you are picking your card, you want it to be as close to the word chosen as possible to get the most points. When you are voting on whose card was the original player’s card, you want to be as accurate as possible with your vote to get the most points. However, when it is your turn and you are picking a word for your card, you can no longer be totally obvious, because if everyone knows that card is yours, you will lose points.

Connection to Video Games

This game most resembles video games in its emergent gameplay, because it asks players to consider the position of other players, and not just their own success. On Bartles taxonomy, this appeals to those who like to compete. However, the aesthetic and design of the game also appeal to explorers who get to experience each new card.