Prototyping a Better World

In European and American education, individualism is often seen as a symbol of freedom, contrasting with dependence on community. This mindset discourages community practices and overlooks the benefits of certain dependencies. Paulo Freire's principles advocate for unity and compassion to challenge oppressive structures. Forming communities of mutual reliance also provides freedoms, which are not achievable on an individual scale.

WoU aims to challenge established knowledge systems, fostering connections without competition or hierarchies. 

However, applying these ideas within games can be challenging due to the entertainment-driven approach. "World of Us" researchers are exploring collaborative game mechanics that promote collectivism. Game mechanics serve as the elemental constructs of interactive experiences, which shape the rules, frameworks, and ever-evolving engagements that influence how players interact with a game. As they are the key factor to shaping gaming experiences, these mechanisms can also be viewed as prototypes for constructing improved societies and fostering meaningful human connections.

Looking deeper, what game mechanics can actually help children explore alternative social structures to capitalist individualism?

Examples of game mechanics fostering collaboration:

Complementarity between characters

Characters have different abilities so players need to collaborate in order to complete their goals. Such gameplay underscores the notion that each person's uniqueness is vital and valued.

Shared goals

This straightforward design pattern is intended to compel a group of players to share a common, non-exclusive objective that can only be achieved collectively.

Collaborative decision-making

To progress, unanimous agreement among all players is required to choose a common course of action, focusing on the collective well-being over individual interests.

Common resources

Collecting own resources to be able to win against other players promotes competition, lack of collaboration and the economy of the strongest. We would like to see more game mechanics focused on taking care of common resources and using them in the best interest of the group.

Exploration instead of destruction

While many games are entrenched in themes of war and conflict, our focus is on environmental exploration to foster a genuine appreciation for the world around us. We don't take it for granted and aim to avoid its exploitation.

Avoidance of stereotypical identities

Rather than selecting from ready-made, stereotypical avatars, we encourage our players to craft in-game identities that closely align with their inner values.

Numerous studies suggest that in more collaborative modes of play, players exhibit a significantly higher likelihood of making positive comments to others, engaging in on-topic conversations, sharing instructions with fellow players, directing their attention towards the game environment and other participants, and taking shorter turns, among other observed behaviours. This means that the introduction of collaborative game mechanics could enable more community-driven approaches in children.

Creating a purely collaborative and community-driven world for children is an immense challenge on its own and requires high degrees of sensibility not only within the design of the game world, but between the collaborators developing the experience. This is a process that requires unpacking our own biases and preconceived notions of social systems through collaboration with communities and people with varying social backgrounds and experiences. Watch this space as we uncover and co-learn how do you prototype a better world.