Tool for a conversation: 3

RULES OF THE GAME

 

What is on the table?

A pack of domino-cards. Some cards have 2 images, some 2 words, some an image and a word. Some have an image and a blank space, some a word and a blank space. The cards have been made by you, for this occasion, as a consequence of our conversation earlier this afternoon..

Aim of the game

The aim of the game is to create connections (of similarity, opposition or otherwise) as the cards are laid, in order to scrutinize or re-evaluate the words, terminologies, images and symbols we use.

Roles and rules for the participants

The game requires a minimum of four active players seated at the table. If there are more than 4 participants, 4 sit down and the others enter into the game as directed by the referee.

Each participant at the table has a role:

  1. The Player: the player choses 1 of the 5 open cards or draws a closed card from the stack. He/she attaches one side of the card to one side of one of the cards on the table. The player then has 2 minutes to clarify his/her choice.
  2. The Opponent (clockwise the person next to the player): the opponent refutes the players reasoning, either proposing a different move or a different reasoning for the same move. The opponent may talk for 2 minutes.
  3. The Idiot (clockwise the person next to the player): “the idiot is the one who always slows the others down, who resists the consensual way in which the situation is presented and in which emergencies mobilize thought or action. Don’t ask him why; the idiot will neither reply nor discuss the issue. The idiot is a presence or, produces an interstice. Knowledge there is, but the idiot demands that we slow down, that we don’t consider ourselves authorized to believe we possess the meaning of what we know.” The Idiot may perform or display for 2 minutes.
  4. The Referee (clockwise the person next to the player): the referee decides who has won the argument and therefor if the card should be moved or not. The referee also makes sure the players stick to the rules. If the participants in the game are more than 4 people, the referee, appoints each role to a new participant.

Starting position

Lay the shuffled pack of domino-cards face down on the table. Take the top card and place it open in the playing field.
Now take the next top 5 cards and lay them open beside the pack. The game can start: 4 people sit down at the table and decide who is the player. The player choses 1 of the 5 open cards or take the top closed card off the pack. Then each fulfills his/her role as described above. A blank space on a card can be filled in by the player at will.
After a round has been completed, if 1 of the open 5 cards has been used by the former player, the new player replaces the missing 5th card with the top card off the stack.
If there are only 4 participants, the roles move up clockwise one place.