Meaningful Play 2022 at Michigan State University

Game Information

TitleThe Transition Year 2E
Presenter(s)Affinity Games, Hermione Banger, Casey O'Donnell, Michael Budram
SessionConference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session
TimeWednesday, October 12, 7:00p-9:30p
LocationMSU Union Ballroom
FormatGame Exhibition
Screenshot
DescriptionThe Transition Year is a map-drawing game. It is also a story-telling game and a world-building game. You collectively explore the struggles of a community trying to transition from a life dependent on extraction and domination and build a new way of living. It is a game about community, difficult choices, solarpunk dreams and anti-capitalist futures. When you play, you make decisions about the community. Those decisions get recorded on a map and Community Record Sheets that are constantly evolving. Parts of the map are literal cartography, while others are symbolic. You will name and describe the various groups that make up the larger community, narrate the projects they embark on, the challenges they face, and roleplay them in community gatherings.

Will you be able to work together, thrive, and make substantive changes through The Transition Year? What will this community look like after a year of working toward transition? This game encourages you to consider these questions, and to play to find out what happens. Players collaborate to create and steer this community, but they will also introduce conflict and tension along the way.

This is a re-imagining of The Quiet Year by Avery Alder. Inspiration is also drawn from The Deep Forest by Avery Alder and Mark Diaz Truman and A Few Degrees of Warming by Michael Elliot. Illustrations are by anarchist artist Clifford Harper. Most are drawn from the book Radical Technology and Anarchy: A Graphic Guide.

Return to Schedule

MeaningfulPlay.MSU.edu