This presentation was delivered at the Mars Society Convention in 2020.
The presentation can be watched on YouTube.
The “Pawns on Mars” presentation is about board games and card games on the Red Planet.
Today I would like to introduce you to the idea of packing various games for our future astronauts, for the First Martians.
I will try to explain quickly what games really are, and then add why and which games to take to Mars.
But first things first. When talking with my friends from the Nicolaus Copernicus University, from the Cognitive Science department, they introduced me to the concept of measuring responsivity of the brain to stimulus. It seems that when we perform activities, or when we read narratives about far away lands, our brain interprets both of those activities in a similar fashion. The fiction is real to our brain! When we read about travelling to Mars, when we tried to repair the broken hatch or grow potatoes with Mark Watney, it all felt real because our brain made it so. For our brain, for our experiential learning, we have been there! Or maybe you travelled with John Carter – it also was real!
In a similar fashion, playing narrative games or well-designed simulations makes the experience real. So, when talking about Mars, games can make it both real and real fun at the same time!
But what are those games then?
Firstly, we can say that whenever we do things for fun, for pleasure, without any fixed or unchangeable rules, we just play, like children do. Artists can do it their whole life!
When we add rules, limitations, teams, judges, points, and so on, we start talking about games, tournaments, and championships.
For this reason the term video games is a bit imprecise. There are lots of video games that are quite playful, and there is nearly no competition or restriction intended.
On the other hand, we have table-top games, board games, card games, but sometimes with modular boards or with tokens, or still some other elements, and they are much closer to strategic planning than to joyful free-spirited play.
Then there are narrative games, which can be digital or analogue, played over an evening at the table like Dungeons & Dragons, or over a period of a few days like LARPs which require campsites, uniforms, gadgets, etc.
And then all sports are also games. But when we play them, they can actually be playful activities, for example playing freezbee with friends or family.
If we go into recruitment and training, we can have simulations, serious games, and models. We are all gamers, one way or another.
But all games, when we play them because we want to have one thing in common. They keep us in the flow. We are in the zone. That’s what all good games and playful activities have in common.
When thinking about games, we should see how far we already use them for practical reasons. Simulations are not just about Star Wars or the Sims. The military, firefighters, and administration go through regular trainings with simulations at the core of the learning or diagnostic process.
The same complex systems are often scaled down to models retaining a handful of most important features. And still those models can be used as much for fun, as for hours, days, or even weeks of strategical thinking. You don’t believe me? Ever saw a game of chess?
So the question “What are games?” is quite interesting. However, it’s much more practical to ask “Why we should play games?”
First of all, we are gamers. Some of us prefer sports, some play bridge, others travel with Cpt. Kirk or Cpt Picard to the final frontier…
Especially in relation to table-top and narrative games, there is a great focus on socialisation. We become better people or at least better at understanding others and negotiating agreements. We no longer tell others what happened to us, but we live through similar experiences, and learn how to interact much more efficiently.
There are amazing video games which you could play for days and months, but usually, you’re on your own or with other detached and scattered players. Video games are also difficult to amend or mod without prior training.
Here comes the advantage of table-top games. You can easily adjust them to players, to schedules, to needs. That’s why we have house rules for Monopoly. This game just needs lots of adjusting…
And here is where creativity and the feeling of empowerment come in play, especially in relation to board games, card games, and various narrative games.
They can provide a vent to skills that remain untapped, but they can also function as a safety valve. It’s better to quarrel about who should be able to play this or that card, then to frown on each other when decisions need to be made about oxygen distribution in the colony compound as the Sun flare is coming our way.
And again, when thinking about distributions, allocations, scenarios… Games are simulations which prepare individuals and teams for making decisions and for dealing with consequences.
And still they can be used for diagnostics of our cognitive and motor function.
We need games…
Why games?
- we are gamers
- socialisation
- shared experiences
- iterations & expansions
- creativity
- vent & safety valve
- simulations
- diagnostics
- rehabilitation
There literally is little that helps people to learn about each other better than games filled with a bit of cooperation, a bit of negative interaction, and a bit of randomness. It’s socialization at its best.
And although video games and simulations are also recommended for training and escaping from tedious reality, they tend to be focused on me, myself, and I. And as far as I hear, supposedly there is no I in team.
So from all those playful activities and games, which should be considered as indispensable for the First Martians?
Board games tend to be a bit chunkier and heavier, and in a rocket every kg counts.
Card games seems simple, but they’re light.
Narrative games can sometimes be stored entirely on a tablet as e-books, and anything around the base can become a prop later on.
Hybrid games mix the tactile and visual features of board games with the computation powers and added visuals or audio of the electronic medium.
And still, we could just upload some video games to the Mars lander, although they tend to go into hundreds of GB nowadays, so maybe that’s not the best idea… Unless you like pranks and want to provide the Mars mission with the first edition of Doom – it was 2 MB and the action takes place on Mars…
First of all we should be looking for variety in terms of items and experiences. We don’t really want to send people on a few-years journey with chess alone. And tell them to play it in teams, so everyone can add something productive to the experience.
We should be looking for games with a few modes of play or stories like Fallout. Each game of Fallout takes 2-4 hours to play and is essentially unique. There are multiple characters, and dozens of stories with hundreds of possible endings. The world of the game we want to choose must be rich.
At the same time, we should be looking for something nice and easy, as a pastime. Card games and party games are awesome here. The crew of Serenity played a poker-styled game trying to shed mundane responsibilities like dishwashing. It does help that many of those games are a bit cheeky. We want to have fun and share a laugh.
So why games on Mars? For exactly the same reasons why games, sports, and simulations are used for fun and for training on Earth. There is the difference in the quality of life on the third and the fourth rock from the Sun, but it doesn’t mean we should forget about fun, socialization, and non-invasive diagnostic tools.
Why should we have games on Mars?
- we are gamers
- socialisation
- shared experiences
- iterations & expansions
- creativity
- vent & safety valve
- simulations
- diagnostics
- rehabilitation
Allocating a few kg on each rocket to games will provide stress-free, quick, or cheeky pastime. They will also allow the First Martians to cater for individual well-being and for the operations of those individuals as a team. And just for the fun of it, how many of us managed to fly to Mars in a game while flying to Mars in a proper space craft!
Games and playful activities are already present at ISS and probably most of space expeditions, so why not Mars? Let’s face it, playing games and having fun are as important for the psychological well-being and group cohesion as food and oxygen are for our body and its basic functions.
So, which games should we pack along? Hundreds of tabletop games can be already played on tablets, computers, and consoles, and that’s great. It allows gamers from around the world to play together or the AI can take over the part of other players when you’re on your own. We want those games in. Still, the feeling is not same. The virtual often lacks the additional element of human contact. And the tactile and visual don’t really live up to the reality when you have access to both. So, great that we have those digital variants, and those games should be present on Mars, but only alongside other video games, and proper tabletop games.
One more reason for board games and card games is the ability to introduce iterations or create your own games quickly and easily. It takes equipment, time, and skills to prepare a mod a video game, a level or even a whole game. With board games and card games it so much easier. Just take away some cards, change statistics of some ships or characters, change the number of players or add a new tile to the board. It literally takes minutes and can be tested straight away. That’s why those iron rations of tabletop games will also allow the First Martians to develop their creativity and to empower them in the human drive to make things better or adopt them to our needs whenever we can.
So, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in her shoe.
We do need chess. This goes without saying. Even if our future astronauts don’t play chess, they may want to learn that during the trip there and back again. Besides there are quite a few version of chess and there are other games that can be played on the same board. And then card games… It takes one or two decks of cards, and you’ve got a set for hundreds of games as well as some playful activities. Never underestimate the power of a deck of cards. They go a long way. Having just a simple chess board or some cards also enables players to add rules, test them, or to create their own games or stories at any time. That’s a vary handy base.
Personally, I’d love to see a rapid chess game or even a blitz played between Earth and Mars. Martian rapids? 1 minute to make your move – around 40 minutes to wait for your opponent's response? Wicked!
However, there are also a lot of new games which are amazing. To give you some perspective, the video game industry alone is bigger than the film industry and music industry combined. And that’s a global trend. Tabletop games may seem a much smaller market in comparison, but the growth in the last 20 years is even greater than that of video games. We are talking about thousands of games published every year. Even if we picked only one in a thousand, in the last 10 years, we are talking about around 30 amazing games which can provide hundreds of hours to play. Some of them are funny party games, some of them are hybrid simulations of complex systems, like Beyond Humanity: Colonies you can see here, and some of them are so good for our brains that MENSA endorses them. Here you have an example of Ingenious where you collect colourful tiles, but your points are equal to your lowest score. It’s ingenious!
And again, with those pieces at hand, you could make even more games given time and limited resources, so you need to concentrate on your brain power and teamwork.
Games can also provide a link to our favourite stories, books, films, songs, you name it. The Lord of the Rings card game packs in a shoebox, and relates to the trilogy, to the Hobbit, and to Silmarillion. A few hundreds of cards give virtually an infinite number of combinations, and a well-balanced randomness of events in the game ensures thousands of hours this game can be played. If you prefer Star Wars, Star Trek, Lovercraft, Robinson Cruze, or fierce battles of WW2, there is a game for you.
Still, not everything has to be fierce and based on hard science. There are games which we want to play because they are beautiful to look at. Have a look at Wingspan in your free time. It’s a good game. You can learn a lot about birds around the globe. But most importantly, it feels so nice to play it with friends when you repopulate a meadow with some migratory and local birds.
Or, maybe a more human approach to another being is what you need. We watch horrors and dramas because we need those feelings as well. They knew it in the Ancient world, so the theatre thrived. Today, we can recreate both the spectacle and the immersion with games like “Alice Is Missing” where you have 90 minutes to find out what happened to your school friend. Did she move out? Did she run away? Or is there something more sinister at play? We need katharsis and games can provide experiential learning like nearly no other medium.
Finally, when we are sending people in a metal tin across an empty void, it would be nice to give them something beautiful to look at and play with. There are closed and open systems that you could just spend hours looking at, painting, decorating, setting up, and all of that even before you start playing the game itself. Again, we can go for Star Wars, this time it’s the Imperial Assault. It will take 3 to 4 shoeboxes this time, but you’ll get around a hundred of figurines, and a few dozens of missions and campaigns. That’s hundreds of hours of game time alone, not to mention painting or creating your own games from that starting set. Similarly, Frostpunk can be seen as a challenging and story-driven simulation that can also be a springboard for additional modifications, games, or short stories written around the game. These games are awesome because they do not stop at the level of the game itself. They are beautiful, they are rich, and they want to grow.
So how should we choose games, and are the games shown so far representative of what the First Martians should pack? Don’t take my word for it. Check statistics at board game geek dot com. Thousands of players registered hundreds of thousands of playthroughs, and the analysis can be more then precise here. We know exactly what games we have and which play best. We know what people like and what should work. We can choose between hundreds of fantastic games based on time we want to allocate to them, number of players, difficulty, or ranking. And there is more. Monopoly and Risk are there. Sure, let’s take them. But please, allow a few more appealing choices as well.
I remember one more thing my friends from the department of Cognitive Sciences told me once about mirror neurons. We learn when we see other people doing something or trying something for the first time. Struggling on the Red Planet will mean that the crew will be learning from each other even just by looking at what others do. If only you stay emotionally attached because without empathy and immersion, we’re not paying attention to others and our surrounding. Games can help in feeling what others feel, and to develop side by side because there is as much game going on on the table as across the table. When playing games, the First Martians will be able to adjust their modes of behaviour and to learn how others express themselves. Also here on Earth we will be able to learn about them and with them. In time, we all will go to Mars because our brains will make it feel real.
Here you have the list of games mentioned in this presentation.
If you have any questions or suggestions, I am all ears.
- Terraforming Mars
- Star Wars: Squadrons / Star Wars: X-wing
- Pocket Mars
- Colt Express / Fallout (video game)
- Beyond Humanity: Colonies
- Fallout (board game) / Firefly Tall Card Game
- Mission Red Planet
- Star Wars: Han Solo Card Game (Sabacc) / Cowboy Bebop
- Tabletop Simulator Wall @ Steam
- chess / a deck of cards
- Beyond Humanity: Colonies / Genial (Ingenious)
- The Lord of the Rings Card Game / Mansions of Madness
- Wingspan / Alice Is Missing
- Star Wars Imperial Assault / Frostpunk (board game)
- First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet
If you would like to find out more about games, gamification, and the need for fun and the state of flow, you can read those.
- Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
- Duhigg, Charles. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.
- Hall, C. (2017, June 22). The art and craft of making board games for the CIA.
- Huizinga, Johan. (1949). Homo Ludens. A Study of the Play-element in Culture.
- Koster, Raph. (2013). Theory of Fun for Game Design.
- McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.
- Piaget, J. (1945). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood.
- Projekt Exodus. (2017, August 29). Information in English.
- Van Eck, Richard. (2006 and 2015). Digital Game-Based Learning.
