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technsolution

Rainbow Game

The Rainbow
Gang

This game is a game about class stratification
meant for young children. It would best be played by a class of
middle-school aged children. After a few games, the teacher could facilitate
a discussion based on the results of the game.

In this game, each player is assigned a color,
red, green, blue, orange, yellow, and purple. Certain colors are
"desirable" in this game: red gives you an automatic energy rating of
30, green 25, blue 20, orange 15, yellow 10, and purple 5. The goal of
the game is to gain "energy" points through completing simple tasks:
farming, teaching, government work. However, each color is only given 3
choices as to what "job" they choose:

Red: Doctor, lawyer, politician (pay=20/day)

Green: Actor, singer, CEO (pay=18/day)

Blue: Government official, professor, dentist
(pay=15/day)

Orange: Teacher, car salesman, nurse
(pay=12/day)

Yellow: farmer, construction worker, secretary
(pay=10/day)

Purple: Fast food worker, housecleaner, farmhand
(pay=8/day)

Players may be able to change the color of their
character, but face extreme obstacles in doing so. Players may choose to
go to school after their normal workday, but it takes energy to do so, and they
will need to juggle several jobs or work overtime to do so. Not getting
enough sleep at night also requires energy, so it is not wise to study into the
night.

Players can also choose to play a
"lottery," which costs a small amount but has a very low chance of
winning.

Players are required to pay into a
"community fund," which pays for roads, infrastructure, and other
things that are not immediately visible to the players. However, only the
red players decide how much each color pays into the fund. If players do
not (or cannot) pay their required amount, they go to jail. This will
quickly take all of the player's energy, as jail "costs" 10/day.

Energy can
be used to purchase shelters, food, cars, and other items in the community
store. All items are paid for with
energy, but some items also allow you to gain energy. For example, food that is healthy, while
costing more, gives you more energy in the end.
Better shelters, beds, cars, bikes, etc. all cost energy, but can earn
you energy later or prevent you from losing energy (instead of walking, which
takes energy, you can drive where you need to go). NOTE: the city in this game is set up so that
the reds live closest to their jobs, the purple the furthest. Thus, while it is easier for the reds to get
to work, the purples must find alternate transportation or risk losing massive
energy in walking.

A player loses when all of his/her energy is
gone.

This game is not like the ones McGonigal outlines. It does not have great rewards, nor does it
give any real entertainment. This game is conceptualized as a teaching tool, to
show how society is set up to benefit some and keep down the rest. A class discussion would need to follow the
game, and students from both the “favored” colors and those from the unfavored
colors could talk about how it felt to be in that position. The “red” could
explain the reasoning for the amounts they chose to charge each color for the
community fund. And the teacher could
transition into issues of race, since some colors are favored (even though in
this game you can change your color).

I am not sure that McGonigal would even consider this a true “game,” as
it doesn’t fit all the criteria she outlines.
But as a teaching tool, I think this game would be a good way to teach
children about privilege that is not earned but gained through birth or a
favorable system.

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I like your game, and in fact found that I used something similar with my game. Seems most of our games are designed around class stratification.
Contents of this reply:
1. Rainbow Game
  The Rainbow Gang
  
  This game is a game about class stratification meant for young children. It would best be played by a class of middle-school aged children. After a few games, the teacher could facilitate a discussion based on the results of the game.
  
  In this game, each player is assigned a color, red, green, blue, orange, yellow, and purple. Certain colors are "desirable" in this game: red gives you an automatic energy rating of 30, green 25, blue 20, orange 15, yellow 10, and purple 5. The goal of the game is to gain "energy" points through completing simple tasks: farming, teaching, government work. However, each color is only given 3 choices as to what "job" they choose:
  
  Red: Doctor, lawyer, politician (pay=20/day)
  Green: Actor, singer, CEO (pay=18/day)
  Blue: Government official, professor, dentist (pay=15/day)
  Orange: Teacher, car salesman, nurse (pay=12/day)
  Yellow: farmer, construction worker, secretary (pay=10/day)
  Purple: Fast food worker, housecleaner, farmhand (pay=8/day)
  
  Players may be able to change the color of their character, but face extreme obstacles in doing so. Players may choose to go to school after their normal workday, but it takes energy to do so, and they will need to juggle several jobs or work overtime to do so. Not getting enough sleep at night also requires energy, so it is not wise to study into the night.
  
  Players can also choose to play a "lottery," which costs a small amount but has a very low chance of winning.
  
  Players are required to pay into a "community fund," which pays for roads, infrastructure, and other things that are not immediately visible to the players. However, only the red players decide how much each color pays into the fund. If players do not (or cannot) pay their required amount, they go to jail. This will quickly take all of the player's energy, as jail "costs" 10/day.
  
  Energy can be used to purchase shelters, food, cars, and other items in the community store. All items are paid for with energy, but some items also allow you to gain energy. For example, food that is healthy, while costing more, gives you more energy in the end. Better shelters, beds, cars, bikes, etc. all cost energy, but can earn you energy later or prevent you from losing energy (instead of walking, which takes energy, you can drive where you need to go). NOTE: the city in this game is set up so that the reds live closest to their jobs, the purple the furthest. Thus, while it is easier for the reds to get to work, the purples must find alternate transportation or risk losing massive energy in walking.
  
  A player loses when all of his/her energy is gone.
  
  This game is not like the ones McGonigal outlines. It does not have great rewards, nor does it give any real entertainment. This game is conceptualized as a teaching tool, to show how society is set up to benefit some and keep down the rest. A class discussion would need to follow the game, and students from both the “favored” colors and those from the unfavored colors could talk about how it felt to be in that position. The “red” could explain the reasoning for the amounts they chose to charge each color for the community fund. And the teacher could transition into issues of race, since some colors are favored (even though in this game you can change your color).
  
  I am not sure that McGonigal would even consider this a true “game,” as it doesn’t fit all the criteria she outlines. But as a teaching tool, I think this game would be a good way to teach children about privilege that is not earned but gained through birth or a favorable system.