GAMERT (Gaming) Round Table

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last person joined: 19 hours ago 

The mission of the Games and Gaming Round Table is to provide the following:
  • A forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns surrounding games in libraries;
  • Resources to the library community to support the building and maintaining of library game collections;
  • A force for initiating and supporting game programming in libraries;
  • Create an awareness of, and need for, the support of the value of gaming and play in libraries, schools, and related learning communities.
  • Create an awareness of the value of games and gaming in library outreach and community engagement plans.
  • A professional and social forum for networking among librarians and non-librarians interested in games and gaming.

  • 1.  Banned Books Week and Game Programs

    Posted Jul 10, 2014 11:57 PM

    At a staff meeting this morning, we were discussing ways that we could integrate the theme of Banned Books Week into some of our regular programs. One idea was to make Cards Against Humanity the featured game for our regular board game night for adults. As our library is looking for ways to generate real conversations about censorship, intellectual freedom, and personal values for BBW (beyond the displays of Harry Potter books behind crime scene tape), this would certainly accomplish that. Has anyone ever had Cards Against Humanity at a library gaming program? Have you found other meaningful ways of integrating BBW into gaming programs?


    Personally, I'm not a huge fan of CAH because I' don't think there is such a thing as "ironic" racism, classism, or misogyny in the hands of amateurs. (That's why we have professional satirists like Dave Chappelle and Sarah Silverman.) But that's kind of the point--just because I find it offensive and immature, does that mean that I should exclude this bestseller from our lending/programming board game collection (especially if it satisfies all of our other selection criteria)? I really want to have this conversation, but as part of a program the context would have to be very carefully constructed, and as with any conversation on this topic, I would want it to be a safe space. Is this possible?


    Thoughts?


    Thanks!


    PJ



  • 2.  RE: Banned Books Week and Game Programs

    Posted Jul 12, 2014 07:41 AM

    I prefer to used games like "Tomorrow" by Conquistador Games to serve as an opener to conversations about theme, censorship, and appropriateness. It is a semi-cooperative game with players taking the role of nations attempting to jockey for  power while doing the, unfortunately necessary, of depopulating the world to a manageable level. It is a rough game to play for some. While others can abstract themselves to the point where they are playing Risk.

    I'd be happy to supply the review copy I received if you wanted to give it a shot.

    Watch it Played on Youtube has a tuturial and conversational video on it as well

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Ejkovf2qg 



  • 3.  RE: Banned Books Week and Game Programs

    Posted Jul 13, 2014 11:51 PM

    Thanks, John. I'll watch that tutorial and get back to you. The "appeal" of Cards Against Humanity is the game's simplicity. For this kind of activity, we don't even have to play a full game to understand its content.

    I feel like there's also an opportunity for designing a simple game or activity in which people defend books using the library's criteria.



  • 4.  RE: Banned Books Week and Game Programs

    Posted Aug 01, 2014 10:50 AM

    So I've ordered a copy of Cards Against Humanity and will have it cataloged and processed by the time Banned Books Weeks arrives. My plan is to have it at game night on the table, but I'm not going to actually force anyone to play the game. Instead, it'll be there for people to play if they want and we'll have a discussion around it. Since we circulate games, this game will fall under the same criteria as our books and films--it might be offensive to some but it's a popular, high demand item in its medium. Also, the interesting thing about CAH is that the majority of cards aren't actually offensive; it only becomes transgressive as players make combinations and fill in the blanks.

    Anyway, if there are any further ideas, I would love to hear them.



  • 5.  RE: Banned Books Week and Game Programs

    Posted Aug 01, 2014 11:19 AM

    I think the fact that CAH is in fact offensive and immature is part of the point.  It is cards against humanity, not cards helping humanity build a better future.  :)

    Now, whether or not they are institutionally appropriate I think depends on what your gaming collection's intended audience and scope is.  Fundamentally, I think it's a collection development issue and we're used to thinking about collection development from the stand point of a lot of different media, but not so much games.  

    I don't hesitate to include highly offensive books in my collection if there's a valid audience for it in my community.  And my book collection is meant to have appeal throughout my community - have something for everyone and something to offend everyone.  I think of these as laws of collection development.  It's kind of like conservation of energy in physics but in this case if you have something for everyone you must offend everyone, if you have something that everyone but one that one has at least one thing they want.  We're kind of used to thinking that way about books (a good thing).

    Now, my library, at this point, doesn't have that kind of game lending program or collection.  I wouldn't put CAH in it.  But, my library also has a collection development policy that would never allow a Sarah Silverman DVD in the collection.  If it did, and if the game collection was meant for more than kids and teens I would feel different about including CAH in my game collection.




    On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 12:40 PM, ALA Connect <connect@ala.org> wrote:
    ((( r