Crimson Connections
If you want to get started playing the most exclusive game being played only in LA with some of the most creative up-and-comers in the media and arts world, first you’ll have to get accepted to the University of Southern California.
And even then, you’ve barely even begun.
My business partner Greg and I are both Bruins, but I’m going to avoid all the cheap shots and instead focus on the innovative and delightful program currently underway at USC.
The best place to learn about SCA Reality is to start watch the video on their web site. At its core, the game is an exercise in galvanization, getting film students at USC to collaborate with each other (sometimes namechecking them individually: incoming freshmen may find their names on game cards!) and offering points and prestige for collaborating in proscribed ways, using elements and constraints dictated by special game cards. These boundaries afford the players opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and resourcefulness, while fomenting collaborations across disciplines.
Professor Henry Jenkins interviews the conspirators behind the game on his blog. One quote of particular interest:
Jeff Watson: “While scavenger hunts might help to build social bonds and search/analysis skills, we felt that they are inherently about solving puzzles or responding to prompts created by someone else — and as such are a kind of consumption-oriented form of play. We wanted to make this game about the players’ creativity, not ours.”
Jeff (who is also one of the co-founders of PEG-LA and oh my he does a lot of things) is right: when Greg and I create a game for a corporate team building client, we are often times dealing with players who aren’t often given an opportunity to flex their creative muscles, so we find it helpful to set the table, so to speak, and invite them to participate in their own way after we’ve given them the assist. A game for film students should put the ball more in their court, and it seems that’s just what they’ve done here.
There are also exciting elements of ARG play in this game, with secret passwords and field trips for high achieving players!
Lastly, to show that the game has legs beyond the college campus, a micro-version was played at the most recent DIY Days, which you can read more about here.
Kudos to Tracy, Jeff, and Simon for their creativity, and for sparking creativity in others.
