500 players already!

Great news: 500 people have played the polarisation game already!

It’s a great pleasure to announce that “The Paperclip Game of Opinions” (and its pilot versions) was played by over 500 people already. It’s been quite a journey! The game has developed a lot since the first idea for the game developed by Wander Jager in the beginning of this project. The game has changed its form (we started with water and glasses, special thanks to Anna Baczko-Dombi for inventing the opinion-rulers!), grew a storyline about Mel and Ian, and the roleplay element, as well as additional educational materials that are helpful in reflecting on the opinion dynamics after the game itself is played.

The game was played in Warsaw, Groningen, Tartu and Berlin but also in Rabat, Delft, Tamsalu, Lisbon, and Poznań and we are hoping to add Buenos Aires to this list pretty soon. We are very happy and thankful to all those who participated, who shared their opinions and suggestions, who invited us to their events, organisations and schools.

The game does not require much preparation – what you need is:
-ca. 1,5 hours (it can also be played in a shorter version)
-some preparation materials (printouts and paper clips)
-a group of 10-30 students
-a storyline and a rulebook

After all the workshops led by team members we believe that the added value of using this format is that students:
– experience how polarisation works and how it can be used to manipulate societies
– can discuss polarisation as a process, without diving straight into political polarisation they’re experiencing
– develop strategies on how to counter polarisation on an individual level

We are now working on a complete toolkit for the game, a set of downloadable materials that are easy-to-use for anyone who would like to try out this game with their classes.