A Master Class in Fun and Games

Bernie DeKoven’s "Master Class in Fun and Games " is a three-day program designed to give New Media designers an opportunity to develop clear, and firmly-rooted understanding of the social and psychological dynamics of fun. It takes place on campus, during a weekend, hopefully not too close to exams, where students and faculty can devote about 6 hours a day to the pursuit of fun.

Ultimately, each participant must arrive at his or her own personal definition of fun. In navigating the New Media waters, they will be called upon to redefine fun, many times. But there are basic notions of fun, derived from anthropological, psychological, and historical sources, that are fundamental, if you forgive the expression

For the New Media designer, perhaps the most useful of all resources stems from the experiential and historical perspective that embodies the New Games Movement. I get to embody some of that history myself, given my past involvement with the Foundation and the work I did to develop the New Games Training program. The experience of New Games, of playing together in a play community where the focus is not on whether or not the players are good enough to play, but whether the game is good enough for the players, is a powerful framework for understanding the dynamics of the virtual play community, like those that form in chat rooms and email chess games, Second Life and Yeti Sports competitions.

My involvement with the USC School of Cinema Television Interactive Multimedia Division began in 2004, with an invitation from Professor Tracy Fullerton to make a presentation about New Games, Junkyard Sports, etc., to students and faculty. That has led to a closer and closer affiliation, especially with Tracy and her cohorts at Ludica. Which, in turn, led Celia, Janine, Jacki, and Tracy to author a most remarkable paper, called: "Sustainable Play: Towards a New Games Movement for the Digital Age." Here's the abstract:

"This paper suggests a revisitation of the New Games Movement, formed by Stewart Brand and others in the early 1970s in the United States as a response to the Vietnam War, against a backdrop of dramatic social and economic change, fueled by a looming energy crisis, civil rights, feminism, and unhealthy widespread drug abuse. Like-minded contemporaries, R. Buckminster Fuller (World Game), Robert Smithson (Spiral Jetty), and Christo and Jean-Claude (Valley Curtain), responded in kind to these environmental and sociopolitical quandaries with their 'earthworks.' As digital game designers and theorists embark upon developing new methods to address the creative crisis in mainstream game production, against a similar backdrop of climate change, a controversial war, political upheaval and complex gender issues, we propose a reexamination of the New Games Movement and its methods as a means of constructing shared contexts for meaningful play in virtual and real-world spaces."

Class schedule

day one	presentation and play session: New Games and Fun Communities, play as a political act, the psychology and sociology of playing for fun	identify games that are especially conducive to the development of a "fun community," prepare to present games to participants, select wide range of representative games, meet in small groups, select game to mod, practice presentation and facilitation, begin publicity campaign for event
day two	game repertoire development (New Games, Junkyard Sports, Casual board games, computer games), game mod development, participant game pitches, development	select and practice games for event, identify key roles (high and low visibility referees, documentation) continue publicity
day three	public event, documenting, debriefing - review event - documentation, student presentations - key learnings fun communities in real and virtual worlds, course evaluation, next steps	identify key learnings from event about game selection, facilitation, engaging and maintaining community involvement, finalize documentation of course and event, publish on student wiki

The goal of the proposed Master Class in Fun and Games is to do just that - first, to reexamine the New Games movement and methods, explore it's political and historical context relative to the Viet Nam protests, and then to apply these methods to the creation of meaningful play in virtual and real-world spaces given today's political climate.

The Master Class begins with a department-wide presentation/event, much as we did at USC. For the rest of the weekend, I'd meet with interested students and faculty, for about two, 3-hour periods a day (or evening). Between classes, students would work in small teams, developing games that they will actually produce for play during a public New Media Games event. Games can involve any medium or combination of media, as long as they somehow embrace the community-centered play ethic of the New Games movement.

During classes, participants, individually or in teams, will pitch game concepts that they believe to be in consonance with the New Games method and ethic. I will respond to each pitch, helping to explore, evaluate and extend the game and the pitch. As needed, I will add to their repertoire of games (social games, new games, Junkyard Sports, board games, card games, computer games).

Between classes, participants are expected to work with each other towards producing and documenting a public New Media Games Event, and help each other prepare, publicize and practice.

During the last day of my stay, we would have a public event, facilitated and documented by Master Class participants. The day would conclude with participant-made presentations to the class, describing their games, what they learned about the dynamics of fun communities, and how they hope to use that understanding in their work.

Background

Bernie DeKoven's lifelong belief that things can be made more fun led him to develop and implement new ways of playing, New Games for groups of all ages and sizes, from singles, couples and families to schools, communities and cities, and, most recently, to the idea of "Junkyard Sports."

His Interplay Curriculum, a comprehensive program in self-esteem and social skills based on over 1000 children's games, was used in classrooms and playgrounds throughout the city of Philadelphia. For the Philadelphia Bicentennial, he designed and orchestrated Playday on the Parkway, a community games event involving hundreds of thousands of celebrants. He established The Games Preserve, a retreat center in Eastern Pennsylvania where teachers, therapists and recreators could conduct in-depth investigations of games and play.

In his book, The Well Played Game, he voiced a philosophy of "healthy competition" that formed the core teachings of the New Games Foundation. He became co-director of the foundation, and has developed internationally successful programs in facilitating collaborative games, community events and business meetings. Bernie has designed award-winning games for Ideal Toy Company, Children's Television Workshop, CBS Software and Mattel Toys. He facilitated the Intel-Mattel collaboration to help develop the microscope and motion-capture peripherals. His current children’s game, Thing-a-ma-bots, is published by Gamewright.

Bernie earned his Master's degree in theater from Villanova University where he received a Rockefeller Fellowship in playwriting. He is a lifetime member of The Association for the Study of Play and winner of the 2006 Iffni- Raynolds award for "outstanding achievement in the field of fun" from the North American Simulation and Gaming Association