by Lau Korsgaard and Douglas Wilson
(An excerpt from our proposal for the 2009 SIGGRAPH social game)
OVERVIEW
CBCG is an “open source” reality game in which players collect real business cards, assemble a deck, and then face off with opponents by debating and negotiating the power level and abilities of their chosen personnel.
THE ESSENCE OF CBCG: AN ANECDOTE
It’s about 1am on the first night of the 2008 Nordic Game Conference. Schmoozing at a chic bar in the center of Malmö, Sweden, we clamor away from the open bar, rum and cokes in hand. Everyone who’s anyone is still here, and likely somewhat inebriated – the perfect time to network, of course! Lau and Doug play it cool, and chat up radio personality and Zöe Mode creative director Ste Curran, in hopes of nabbing the ever-elusive keynote speaker business card.
Just then, Mike swaggers by with an infuriatingly smug grin on his face. “The Eve Online guy!” he brags, waving a small white card then rushing on towards the bar. Mike, of course, is talking about Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, lead economist for CCP’s Eve Online. You see, Mike is a man on a mission. Just hours earlier, he managed to flag down acclaimed designer Fumito Ueda. Through Ueda’s translator, Mike asked Ueda about the relationship between games and art. And even though Mike gloats about obtaining Ueda’s business card, we can tell he’s even more pleased that he got to shoot the breeze with one of the industry’s greats.
Skip forward two days. We find ourselves at the IT University of Copenhagen student bar, thick in the middle of a contentious game of CBCG. Doug has just played Gorm Lai, CTO of Danish games startup 3 Lives Left. Gorm is an accomplished programmer and former Deadline employee, and 3 Lives Left is his up-and-coming MMO studio. “A three, obviously,” says Doug, without even looking to Lau or Mike for acknowledgement. Of course, the other two don’t exactly see things that way, and Mike squawks his characteristic “What?!” As a brand new startup, 3 Lives Left hardly has a proven track record. “And we agreed that this Unity guy is only a two, and the Unity Engine is so clearly a more impressive technical feat,” argues Lau. Doug is forced to moderate his position. Gorm is assigned a two.
Doug still remains confident of his position, but if Mike happens to draw his Ueda card, there could be trouble. Doug thinks to himself, “is there any way I can argue Ueda down to a three?” Given Mike’s fanatical love of Shadows of the Colossus, probably not…
RULES
Quick Summary
The goal of CBCG is to found a game company and then develop (and publish) a game with three “cool features” – before your opponents, of course!
Each player assembles a deck from real-life business cards that they have collected. To begin the game, each player starts with five cards in their hand. Each card is assigned a power level – a single integer ranging from 0 to 4. Every time a card is played, all players have to discuss (and ultimately agree on) the power level of that particular card.
Management cards (e.g. CEOs, producers) act as resources, and are tapped to hire developers (e.g. artists, designers, or programmers). Developer cards can be used in one of two ways. Tap a certain number of them to produce a “cool feature” for your game, thereby bringing your company one step closer to publishing. Alternatively, tap developers to “hype” your company to an opponent, draining your rival of resources.
If a card is played that lists a profession undefined by the rules, the players must discuss – either the card qualifies as an existing type of card, or the players have to create new rules on the fly. CBCG requires just as much game design skill as it does strategic skill.
The rules are heavily inspired by the popular collectible card game, Magic: the Gathering. Any player familiar with M:tG would also be comfortable with the mechanics and flow of CBCG.
Complete Rules
Goal
The goal of CBCG is to found a game company and then develop (and publish) a game with three “cool features” – before your opponents, of course!
Assembling a Deck
CBCG is not a game that comes with its own official cards or game pieces. To build a deck, players must collect real-life business cards. Any real-life business card is a legal card. There are only three rules. First, players must use real business cards – no fakes! Honor code applies.
Second, any rule printed on a business card applies. For example, a conference attendee might print “tap to draw an extra card” or “+1 advantage against artists” on their business card. Third, a player cannot play with their own business card.
Basic cards
The basic CBCG ruleset specifies three types of cards:
Management – e.g. CEOs, project managers, producers
Managers are the basic “resources” of the game. They are used to hire developers for your company. In M:tG terms, managers are land.
Development – e.g. game designers, artists, programmers
Developers produce your company’s game and its “cool features.” Developers can also be used to hype your company to an opposing player. In M:tG terms, developers are creatures.
Outsiders – e.g. journalists, researchers, lawyers
Outsiders are professionals who are not normally hired by game companies. These cards are played as “one shots” – the card is played and then discarded. For example, in our suggested ITU ruleset, playing a researcher card allows you to draw that person’s power level number of cards from your deck. In M:tG terms, outsiders are instants or sorceries.
“Open-Source” Rules
The rules of CBCG are “open-source” and constantly subject to revision. An essential part of the game is discussion, and players must create new rules on the fly when encountering new types of cards. For example, if one player brings a game writer into play, all players must agree on what to do with that profession. Does a game writer qualify as a game designer? Or perhaps it’s used as an outsider card? All new rules must be made in agreement with all players. Friendly debate is encouraged, but CBCG is ultimately as collaborative as it is competitive.
Power Levels
Obviously, real-life business cards aren’t typically designed with game mechanics in mind. Moreover, there are too many people in the world for any one game system to assign pre-specified values to every business card. Consequently, the players are themselves responsible for assigning each card a power level when played.
Each card, when played, must be assigned a “power level” – an integer ranging from 0 to 4. Every time you play a card, you must discuss the power of that card with your opponents. Use your argumentation skills and knowledge about the industry to ensure that each card gets the right valuation. The power should be valuated relative to other people in the game industry with the same profession; compare game designers with game designers and artists with artists. All players must agree on a power value before the game can continue.
Here are some basic guidelines, but remember that judgment is highly subjective:
0 – hobbyists, students, and other people who aren’t paid for their work
1 – gets paid, but has little or no “name” in the industry
2 – works for a major company, or somewhere else worth recognizing
3 – lead, and/or has a recognized track record
4 – legendary in the industry (there are only be a handful in each profession)
Tapping and Untapping
In order to “use” a card in play (e.g. a manager or developer), players “tap” (rotate) that card to visually demarcate that the card has been used. A card cannot be used again until it is untapped (rotated back to its original orientation). Developer cards cannot be tapped the same turn they are hired (brought into play). In addition, only untapped cards can be used to “counter-hype” (defend). See below for details and examples.
The Deck
Each player constructs their deck from real-life business cards that they have collected. The deck is your source for new hires. In this way, your deck is also your lifeblood – if you ever deplete your deck (e.g. draw all your cards), your company goes bankrupt and you lose. After all, a startup with no growth potential is doomed!
Starting a Game
Each player shuffles their deck, and then draws five cards for their starting hand. Players must then decide who goes first, using whatever method or criteria they deem appropriate.
Order of Play
Here’s what happens during a turn. All steps are optional:
Untap all tapped cards
At the very beginning of your turn, untap all of your tapped cards.
Draw one card from your deck
You may “look for new talent” by drawing one card from the top of your deck and placing it into your hand. Your hand symbolizes applicants to the company. Remember, each card you draw gives you another potential employee, but also brings you closer to bankruptcy. As such, drawing a card is not always the best strategic move.
Hire employees and play outsiders
You may hire (bring into play) one management card per turn, free of cost. In order to hire other cards – developers and outsiders – you must tap management cards. You have to tap management cards with power equal or greater to the power level of the card you want to play.
Example: A player tries to hire Shigeru Miyamoto. All players agree that Miyamoto is a legend, and therefore has a power of 4. The player then taps two of his CEOs, who were rated as power 2 when they were brought into play, to produce the 4 hiring points needed to hire Miyamoto.
If, after discussion, it turns out that you didn’t have hiring points to hire the person, you must return the card to your hand.
Produce a “cool feature”
To publish a game, you only need three “cool features.” Staying ahead in the feature race is therefore crucial! In order to produce a cool feature, you must, in the same turn, tap developer cards with at least 5 power in total. You can only produce one cool feature per turn.
Hype your company to an opponent
You might also want to use your developers to “hype” your company to a rival company (attack) instead of producing a cool feature. This is a core dilemma that all game companies face. Successfully hyping your company removes cards from a rival’s deck. Nobody wants to work for the lesser-hyped company in the industry!
Hype is created by choosing an opponent and then tapping some of your developer cards. The opponent is then given the opportunity to “counter-hype” (defend). If the opponent is unable or chooses not to counter-hype, they lose cards from the top of their deck, in number equal to the total power of the hyping developers. The opponent can also select any number of untapped development cards to counter-hype (block) any or all hyping (attacking) developers. For each showdown, the side with the lowest total power is returned to the owner’s hand. If both sides have equal power, all cards remain in play.
Example: Player A hypes Player B with Shigeru Miyamoto (designer of power 4) and Lau Korsgaard (designer of power 1). Player B decides to let Miyamoto through, but counter-hypes Lau Korsgaard with Clint Hocking (designer of power 3). Player A returns Lau Korsgaard to their hand, and Player B discards four cards from the top of their deck.
Discard Extra Cards
If at the end of your turn you have more than seven cards in your hand, you must discard down to seven cards.
Winning and Losing
A player wins if they produce “three cool features” for their game. A player loses if their deck is depleted (runs out of cards).
Spirit of the Game
CBCG is a game built around discussion, so compromise is important! Winning is not as important as how you play. Long debates are all part of the fun, but it’s essential not to let disagreement derail a game.
Suggested Elaborations: The IT University of Copenhagen Ruleset
To spice up the game, we suggest these additional rules. Like all aspects of CBCG, these rules are up for negotiation. We highly encourage players to create their own modifications.
Artists trump programmers trump designers trump artists
In hype/counter-hype showdowns, different types of developers receive bonuses against each other. Artists get a +1 bonus when facing programmers, programmers get a +1 bonus when facing designers, and designers get a +1 bonus when facing artists.
Company synergies
A player can, at any time, swap a card from their hand with a card on the table if those two business cards are from the same company.
Engine programmer
Programmer. Engine programmers can’t be used to hype, but give a +1 power bonus to you’re your other programmers when producing cool features.
Quality assurance/Tester
Developer. Quality assurance and testers can only be used to counter-hype. They cannot be used to hype or produce cool features.
Human resources
Management. Tap any HR personnel to take a number of cards (with a total power adding up to less than or equal to the HR personnel’s power level) from the discard pile. Place these cards at the bottom of the deck.
Founder
Management. When played, look through your deck and choose a number of cards equal to the founder’s power level, and bring those cards into your hand. Founders can only be used to hire in a company that has hired fewer than four developers.
Academic/Researcher/Professor
Outsider. Draw a number of cards equal to the power of the academic from your deck.
Journalist
Outsider. Play to destroy an opposing management card of less or equal power.
Publisher
Outsider. All your development cards get a +1 bonus this turn for producing a cool feature.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What type of people will play CBCG?
One strength of the CBCG design is that the game accounts for a wide variety of different player types, and allows attendees to play at varying levels of involvement:
Levels of involvement:
On the most basic level, all conference attendees will already be playing the first phase of the game, whether they know it or not. Networking and collecting business cards is already a hallmark of the conference experience. It was our goal to design a game with no clear cut “magic circle,” so that attendees can more easily phase in and out of the game. Because every attendee becomes a player by default, CBCG avoids one major hurdle of the pervasive games genre: getting enough people to play. Even the best designed conference game or ARG can become highly awkward if the game fails to gain critical mass.
On a second level, some players will enjoy collecting business cards, and might even be inspired to try to score business cards from more famous attendees. We’ve all been to conferences at which we’ve accumulated innumerable, seemingly pointless business cards. Part of the fun of CBCG is therefore the re-contextualization of this networking practice. As such, CBCG is inspired by card games like Magic: The Gathering (M:tG) and Pokemon. Many collectible card games, like CBCG, are designed for competitive play, but half the fun lies in the collecting and deck building. Indeed, some player types prefer this “preliminary” stage of the game.
On a third level, some players will take the time to learn the basic rules in order to play the M:tG-like competitive game that utilizes those collected business cards. This clean separation between the pervasive game (collecting) and the more traditional game (the competitive card game) allows people to easily phase into the game – and the spirit of the game – without immediately having to learn any rules or goals. The more complex rule-driven stage of CBCG happens in a contained setting (e.g. two or three people facing off), and is therefore easier to teach and manage.
Finally, at the most “hardcore” level, CBCG encourages its dedicated players to discuss their own ruleset modifications. The player becomes the designer.
Isn’t such an open-ended, player-generated ruleset problematic?
We don’t think so. The key thing to realize is that CBCG is more a social experience that merely masquerades as a game. Debating the power levels of each card is indeed the core fun of the game. One game, you might find yourself arguing against a particular developer, and then next game change argue the opposite when you yourself try to play that same business card. Hell, you might even find yourself arguing against yourself when your opponent plays your business card! Does ego triumph over competitive spirit? The whole point is to get people arguing new perspectives that they might not have considered before.
Business cards have different shapes and colors. Won’t players know which cards are on the top of their own deck?
Yes. This foresight is a fun quirk of the game, and should not be considered cheating. That said, you may want to have your opponent shuffle your deck for you, just to keep things fair.
Won’t CBCG impede the networking process by making people reluctant to give out their business card?
We don’t think so. Even in the absence of any game, people (especially celebrities) are often hesitant to “waste” cards on people they barely know. Those attendees who find a real need or desire to exchange information will still do so.
To the contrary, part of the fun of CBCG is networking enough with a person to the point where both of you would want to exchange contact information regardless. In this view, the game doesn’t leech off of the networking process. The game also catalyzes the networking process. If that isn’t the definition of a social game, we don’t know what is.
THE TEAM
Lau Korsgaard is a game designer with an MA in Media, Technology & Games from the IT University of Copenhagen. Lau has developed newsgames for the Danish National Public Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and has served as a workshop leader and organizer of social games and creativity seminars at several Danish folk high schools.
Douglas Wilson is a researcher and game designer with an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. Doug is currently pursuing a Digital Media PhD at Georgia Tech. As a 2007-08 Fulbright fellow in Denmark, Doug developed a number of experimental multiplayer games at IT University of Copenhagen. His primary research interest is political gameplay.
Lau and Doug are the co-designers of Dark Room Sex Game, an experimental multiplayer rhythm game. Dark Room Sex Game was awarded Best Game (Open Category) at the Gotland Game Awards, and was recently awarded “Most Fun Game” at IndieCade 2008 at Open Satellite.