Week 3

The game that we ended up creating was called "team tag" and it stems from an idea that was presented in our discord discussions. Originally we intended on going a separate route entirely with a game based off another game called "thinkers". The first game we concieved strayed away from the qualities that make a folk game a folk game. This became apparent the more we discussed and planned the game out so we eventually had to abandon the idea and move on to something that fell more in line with the folk game genre. The game we ended up creating, team tag, brought together all six of the basic elements introduced by Macklin & Sharp and discussed in class. Firstly we created action by having the game consist of physical movement and interaction between the players.  These actions consists of each player running, tagging, shuffling, dodging, and linking arms with their partner. Secondly, the goal we established for the game was to eliminate all other teams that were playing in whatever way imaginable. To eliminate a team the tagger has to tag the linked player and this created many unique play styles. The rules of the game were kept as simple as possible so that if a new player wanted to join in they would be able to without having to explain a hundred details. Keeping the rules simple also promoted the overall goal of the game which is to simply play and have fun.  We wanted to keep the objects required for the game at a minimum so that anyone could jump in regardless of what they were doing beforehand. With that in mind we decided to make the player themselves the object so that the game was more inclusive. The playspace we used in our test trials was far too small from our experience. However we were only in a small classroom. I believe that this game would best thrive in a large open space such as a field. One of the main issues we faced while being in an small playspace was that it became very easy to trap a team into a tight space forcing them to be tagged. The players of course are the backbone of any game as they are the ones actually playing the game you have created. With that in mind we tried our best to keep the game balanced and fair so that anyone would feel comfortable jumping in and have fun. The players also heavily impacted the fun of the game and mostly the longevity of the game. We first played with only six people and found that each round only lasted a minute max. The only way around this would be to add more people, but that would also require a much larger playspace. Overall the game that we created was a lot of fun to play with anyone that was willing to latch themselves to a stranger. The main issue that we ran into as stated previously was the lack of a larger playspace, but with a large number of players (12+) and a larger playspace I believe this game would've been a hit in the sixties.