Can you be Trusted? A game of logic, deduction and persuasion
Lead Author: Sarah Howley
Additional authors: Nikki Tomlinson, Kai Prince
Timetable: Wednesday Session 2: 14:45-15:30, Terrace Room
Description:
In the University of Manchester Library, we design our open programme to be inclusive of university students of all disciplines, from undergraduate to PhD level. We never know who is going to turn up on the day, and it’s usual that we’re all strangers. Play in higher education can dissolve social barriers and encourage active collaboration, while providing a non-traditional route to intended learning outcomes. Furthermore, disguising learning as play can relieve pressure to learn and encourage students to feel safe to experiment. We hope this activity acts as a vehicle for inclusion, inspiring more students to opt in to joining us for the open programme, developing their academic skills throughout university and beyond.
Synthesising information to form a critical argument is one of the more challenging academic skills for students to grasp. A true scholar is not only able to draw insightful connections between sources; they pull together the most credible and relevant information. Students often struggle with how to put this into practice, so our game explores how these typically serious skills might be acquired through playful means.
The Game
• Everyone who enters the Game Room will become a player.
• All players secretly take on a role: Truth-Teller, Deceiver or Hunter.
• All Hunters are revealed to the group, along with the total number of known* Deceivers, but not their identities.
• The remaining players will divide into groups, with unknown ratios of Truth-Tellers and Deceivers. There will also be Wildcards, which grant special powers to individual players only.
• The Academic (the session facilitator) will provide a scenario for context, and they will draw attention to several sources of information around the room.
• Each group will receive a selection of ‘claims’ related to the sources and the scenario. Only one of the claims are accurate/logical. All other claims will contain some inaccuracies.
• Everyone will have unlimited access to the sources, and each group must select a ‘claim’ to present when the time is up.
However:
• The Truth-Tellers will be using logic and reasoning to ensure that their group chooses the accurate/logical claim. The Truth-Tellers win if most of the chosen claims are accurate/logical when the time is up.
• The Deceivers will play the devil’s advocate and bend the truth, steering their group away from the accurate/logical claim, while evading the Hunters. The Deceivers win if most of the chosen claims are inaccurate/illogical when the time is up.
• The Hunters will be circling all groups, seeking and accusing anyone they suspect of being a Deceiver. The Hunters win if all Deceivers are caught before the time is up, regardless of whether the claims are accurate or inaccurate.
Come and test your powers of persuasion and deduction! Will you be swayed by a Deceiver in disguise? Will you eliminate all threats to the truth? Join us and find out.
References, web links and other resources:
Tang, Tang ; Vezzani, Valentina ; Eriksson, Vikki, 2020. Developing critical thinking, collective creativity skills and problem solving through playful design jams, Thinking skills and creativity, Vol.37, Article 100696
Morard, Simon ; Sanchez, Eric ; Bonnat, Catherine, 2023. Museum Games and Personal Epistemology: A Study on Students’ Critical Thinking with a Mixed Reality Game, International journal of serious games, Vol.10 (4), p.131-151
Skriver, Jennifer Ann, 2024. Crafting Inclusive Playful Learning Environments: Exploring Affective Strategies and Atmospheres, BUKS – tidsskrift for børne- og ungdomskultur, Vol.40 (68), p.21-21
Town of Salem card game: https://town-of-salem.fandom.com/wiki/Town_of_Salem_Card_Game
The Traitors gameshow: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23743442/
Can you be Trusted? A game of logic, deduction and persuasion
Lead Author: Sarah Howley
Additional authors: Nikki Tomlinson, Kai Prince
Timetable: Wednesday Session 2: 14:45-15:30, Terrace Room
Description:
In the University of Manchester Library, we design our open programme to be inclusive of university students of all disciplines, from undergraduate to PhD level. We never know who is going to turn up on the day, and it’s usual that we’re all strangers. Play in higher education can dissolve social barriers and encourage active collaboration, while providing a non-traditional route to intended learning outcomes. Furthermore, disguising learning as play can relieve pressure to learn and encourage students to feel safe to experiment. We hope this activity acts as a vehicle for inclusion, inspiring more students to opt in to joining us for the open programme, developing their academic skills throughout university and beyond.
Synthesising information to form a critical argument is one of the more challenging academic skills for students to grasp. A true scholar is not only able to draw insightful connections between sources; they pull together the most credible and relevant information. Students often struggle with how to put this into practice, so our game explores how these typically serious skills might be acquired through playful means.
The Game
• Everyone who enters the Game Room will become a player.
• All players secretly take on a role: Truth-Teller, Deceiver or Hunter.
• All Hunters are revealed to the group, along with the total number of known* Deceivers, but not their identities.
• The remaining players will divide into groups, with unknown ratios of Truth-Tellers and Deceivers. There will also be Wildcards, which grant special powers to individual players only.
• The Academic (the session facilitator) will provide a scenario for context, and they will draw attention to several sources of information around the room.
• Each group will receive a selection of ‘claims’ related to the sources and the scenario. Only one of the claims are accurate/logical. All other claims will contain some inaccuracies.
• Everyone will have unlimited access to the sources, and each group must select a ‘claim’ to present when the time is up.
However:
• The Truth-Tellers will be using logic and reasoning to ensure that their group chooses the accurate/logical claim. The Truth-Tellers win if most of the chosen claims are accurate/logical when the time is up.
• The Deceivers will play the devil’s advocate and bend the truth, steering their group away from the accurate/logical claim, while evading the Hunters. The Deceivers win if most of the chosen claims are inaccurate/illogical when the time is up.
• The Hunters will be circling all groups, seeking and accusing anyone they suspect of being a Deceiver. The Hunters win if all Deceivers are caught before the time is up, regardless of whether the claims are accurate or inaccurate.
Come and test your powers of persuasion and deduction! Will you be swayed by a Deceiver in disguise? Will you eliminate all threats to the truth? Join us and find out.
References, web links and other resources:
Tang, Tang ; Vezzani, Valentina ; Eriksson, Vikki, 2020. Developing critical thinking, collective creativity skills and problem solving through playful design jams, Thinking skills and creativity, Vol.37, Article 100696
Morard, Simon ; Sanchez, Eric ; Bonnat, Catherine, 2023. Museum Games and Personal Epistemology: A Study on Students’ Critical Thinking with a Mixed Reality Game, International journal of serious games, Vol.10 (4), p.131-151
Skriver, Jennifer Ann, 2024. Crafting Inclusive Playful Learning Environments: Exploring Affective Strategies and Atmospheres, BUKS – tidsskrift for børne- og ungdomskultur, Vol.40 (68), p.21-21
Town of Salem card game: https://town-of-salem.fandom.com/wiki/Town_of_Salem_Card_Game
The Traitors gameshow: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23743442/