Comp150-GD HW3
Zoe Baghdoyan, Eliza Schreibman and Daniel Hudson
ARG Game: Query
The Purpose of the Query:
Getting to know people and socialize can be challenging, and even debilitating for
some—such as people with social anxiety. Finding out important or interesting
details about someone’s life can be tricky. On the one hand, asking lots of questions
out of the blue can seem intrusive or rude, while only asking superficial questions
gets boring pretty quick. Our game, Query, gives friends a chance to get to know
each other better and also test how well they already know each other. Our game
encourages cooperation, quick thinking, humor, and self-reflection. It is a fun and
relaxed environment to learn both silly and serious things about your friends.
How We Addressed This Misery:
Query is a game meant for strengthening and expanding our social circles, so
we felt that McGonigal’s fixes: “Stronger Social Connectivity” and “More Fun With
Strangers” related to our game. The game is designed to be a fun way to be more
comfortable with potentially awkward social situations through silly, though
thoughtful, experiences with other people. This game can be played with
acquaintances, best friends, family, or significant others, allowing players to
strengthen the ties in place and create new connections. Because of this, we also
felt that the fix “Emotional Activation” played a role in our game. In playing Query,
you might feel a range of emotions from amusement at others’ embarrassment (such
as when they perform a Dare), to gratitude from another player giving you a
compliment and the opportunity to move forward on the board, to thoughtful surprise
at an answer your friend gave to a question that you didn’t expect. The fix
“Unnecessary Obstacles” also is very present in Query. These obstacles are
everything from a time limit in “Commonalities” to the rules that other players create.
All of these fixes help address the misery that can be caused by stressful social
situations.
Testing and Revising Query:
All of us agreed that this was the smoothest game-play testing experience in
the class thus far. In fact, some of us can’t wait to play this on the weekend just for
fun. Of course, testing helped us to clarify the rules for our playtesters. We also
tweaked some of the specific rules of game to make the game flow better; for
example, we found that Celebrity task was better suited for a 2-minute time limit than
a 10 yes-or-no question limit. We found that the game could be played with minimal
resources--both the timer and the 8 sided die were available online, a game board
could be drawn by hand, and Fruit Loops from the dining hall made great
spontaneous player pieces. Overall, we made minimal changes to the game
mechanics and focused mostly on improving flow. Our two test groups were small
and included some good friends and some mere acquaintances. We think Query
would be most successful with a mix of loosely and well-connected players.
QUERY
Authors: Zoe Baghdoyan, Eliza Schreibman and Daniel Hudson
Audience: Ages 13+, 4-8 players
Materials and Setup: Game board, an eight-sided die, a electronic timer, Newlywed
question cards, Celebrity cards, paper, pencil, and a small game piece for each
player. Place each of the player pieces on the space marked Start and place the
Newlyweds and Celebrity cards in separate facedown decks as indicated on the
board.
Basic Play: Players take turns rolling the die. The number on the die indicates a
certain Challenge, which may include from one to all of the players. A player’s
performance of the task determines how many spaces they move.
Start and End of Game: Each player rolls the die. The player with the highest roll
goes first and then gameplay proceeds to the left. The game ends when a player
reaches the last space marked Finish--that player wins!
Main Rules:
Each turn the player rolls the die to determine the Challenge. You, as the player,
perform the task corresponding to the number on the die:
1. Compliment: You choose another player to compliment. They move forward
one space, but you do not move.
2. Newlyweds: You choose someone to partner and then pick up a Newlywed
card. You first write down your answer to the question, and then your partner
must guess how you answered. If your partner guesses the answer you wrote
down, both of you move forward two spaces. Otherwise, neither of you move.
3. Truth or Dare: You pick to answer either a truth question or do a dare. Then
the other players decide on a question or dare for you. If you answer the truth
question, move forward two spaces. If you complete the dare, move forward
three spaces. If you choose not to answer or complete the dare, do not
move.
4. Never Have I Ever: Everyone holds up three fingers. Starting from you and
then moving to the left, each person says “Never Have I Ever _____” and fill
in the blank with some truthful statement (e.g. “Never Have I Ever broken a
bone”). Anyone in the group who has done that (e.g. if another player has
broken a bone) must put one finger down. Once at least one player has put
all three fingers down, everyone moves the number of spaces equal to the
number of fingers they still have up.
5. Ask A Question: You pose any question to the group. All players who answer,
including you, move forward one space. Example questions can be found
below the main rules.
6. Make A Rule: You make a new rule for the game. This rule is active for the
rest of the game, or until another player who rolls a 6 repeals it. If anyone
breaks the rule, they move backward one space. (Or make additional
consequences as part of the rule.) Example rules are listed below the main
rules.
7. Commonalities: You have 30 seconds to find 3 things in common with the
person to your left. If you succeed in finding these commonalities, you both
move forward one space; if not, neither of you move.
a. The next time you get this challenge, switch to finding commonalities
with the person to your right. The 3rd time, to your left, and so on.
b. You must use different commonalities for the same person (e.g. the
second time you are paired with the person to your left, you may not
repeat any commonalities you found in the previous round).
8. Celebrity: Place a Celebrity card on your forehead without looking at it. You
have two minutes to ask yes or no questions about your celebrity to the
group. You may guess who the celebrity is as many times as you want. If you
guess correctly before the two minutes are up, you move three spaces. If you
don’t guess correctly before time is up, then do not move.
Example Questions:
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As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
What’s a common misconception people have about you?
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
What is your ideal sandwich?
What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?
What is something you have always wanted since you were a kid?
What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?
What do you wish you spent more time doing?
What is something you would hate to go a day without?
What have you done that you are truly proud of?
What is one thing, right now, that you are totally sure of?
What are three simple things that make you happy?
What is the best gift you’ve ever given/received?
Who in your life do you wish you had met sooner?
What’s one important thing you learned from your parents?
Who do you need to get in touch with because it has been too long?
Are you earth, wind, water, or fire?
Example Rules:
 You cannot call other players by name.
 You cannot touch your face/hair.
 You must balance an object on your head without letting it fall.
 You cannot say “um” or “uh.”
 You cannot look at you cell phone
 You must talk like a pirate
 Choose and individual and give them a specific accent to use or other task
 Repeal a rule previously made by another person
Game board for Query