Learning in the Magic Circle
Humans have always used games as a teaching tool — after all, play is a great way to learn new skills. But what makes games such a great way to learn, and what does the magic circle have to do with it?
The magic circle is a place where players can suspend disbelief and pretend to live in a world outside of traditional norms — it’s a great way to get people out of their comfort zones and learn difficult concepts in a safe space.
I want to share with you today three examples of how play (especially when stewarded by someone more experienced) can make even intimidating concepts accessible to newcomers.
Know Thyself — IKantKoan
Know Thyself is a philosophy salon designed by Jessica Creane of IKantKoan and was shown at the Philly Fringe Festival in 2019. The premise is making philosophy practical and asking visitors to confront their purported values against their actions.
Visitors were paired with strangers and taken through the gallery space. At each exhibition, they’d get a little bit of background information on the philosopher displayed, then play a game embodying their work. There, visitors would play out how they’d live through the lens of that philosophy, and learn the consequences.
“Trolley Problem Slap,” based on Philippa Foot’s famous thought experiment, is one of these games. The group, with their partners, would be presented with a series of paired cards representing people, places, ideas, or things tied to different train tracks. Players had three seconds to slap the card they’d rather the trolley drive over — if they waited too long, both options would die. If both partners slapped the same card, the remaining one would survive; if they each chose something different, both cards died. Adding another layer of difficulty was that the pairs were intentionally curated (who would you rather kill: Stalin or Hitler? Anne Frank or Malala Yousafzai?) to force the player to confront their biases.
“Part of it is really just a little check-in for yourself. Am I actually making choices based on these things that I believe, and if not, why? So there’s just some look at at whether or not we are living up to our philosophical standards. And if we are not, then trying to figure out why that is. Is it a fault of our standards? Or is it just our ability to put into practice?”
— Jessica Creane on Know Thyself (2)
After the emotional conclusion of the show, players told her — some with delight, others with rage — that she really made them think. The salon was well-received, ultimately, and Creane has hopes to expand it someday to include multiple tracks.
Forced From Home — Doctors without Borders
Forced From Home is an experience designed by Doctors without Borders. It was put on between 2016 and 2018 across the United States, and taught visitors about the refugee crisis through an interactive tour.
Each visitor is randomly given a slip of paper saying which country they’re fleeing from and what conditions caused them to flee (such as war in Syria or famine in Somalia). Players then stop at a tall board with dozens of cards representing items such as food, livestock, medicine, passport, clothing, cell phone, water, and so on, and choose only five things to take with them before they flee their home.
The next station is an inflatable lifeboat, the same kind refugees cross the Mediterranean in. Visitors are encouraged to sit in it and imagine how up to a hundred people will crowd onto a boat meant for only 20 people, while the tour guide describes how dangerous that journey is. And, even if refugees survive the crossing, there’s no guarantee they’ll be allowed onto shore. At the end of the station, the guide tells us that in order to obtain the passage in the first place, we’d had to trade one of our five items to the captain.
For the next three stations, the visitor must continue to leave behind their things until finally, left with only a single item, they reach a European refugee camp. When I played it myself at age 19, I remember feeling sobered, and how increasingly difficult it was to choose which item was truly irreplaceable. I ended up choosing the blanket — my dad, on the other hand, saved the passport and we had a good conversation about it. The tour guide told us that for most people (visitors and refugees alike), the cell phone is the last thing they give up, since it’s their last link to the loved ones left behind.
Although the tour hasn’t run for years, the website has many resources and documentary films available for those wanting to learn more. I encourage you to check it out after reading this blog.
The work of Jeeyon Shim
Jeeyon Shim is a game designer with a background in outdoor fieldwork. She teaches children and adults outdoor wilderness survival skills through LARPing and imaginative roleplay. Most of her games, even indoor ones, highlight the natural world and encourage the player to think about their connection to their non-human community.
“I really believe that one of the worst things to happen on an environmental justice level is the concept of “the natural world” … rather than just like a single biosphere that we all live in. The [linguistic separation] immediately cascades into an emotional separation, a societal separation, a separation of priorities. People intrinsically, as they’re raised, think of themselves as separate.”
— Jeeyon Shim (4)
While working at the Wayfinder Experience, she designed a LARP that had two magic systems — druidic and institutional magic. In druidic magic, the player would be connected to the world around them. “In order to cast any magic, you had to find something in the land, make sure it’s safe to touch, touch it, and then call upon an aspect of whatever you were to cast,” she explained in a talk at METATOPIA ONLINE. If a player wanted to cast a binding spell, for example, they would touch ivy and call upon its climbing, wrapping aspect to do so. Institutional magic, on the other hand, had an opposing philosophy: “Instead of integrating yourself, you decided what your will was, and then put the pieces in there to work it, with a lot of fallout after.”
Campers loved her LARP — even those who’d previously thought they didn’t like being outside. One girl came up to Shim afterwards to share a revelation she’d had after her character had died. In that moment, a shooting star had flown over her “body” and she realized how truly real and interconnected everything and everyone is. After that, she wanted to learn how to be in nature more.
Games are a great way for players to learn things thanks to the way the magic circle lowers people’s barriers and allows them to try new things, take risks, and fail in a safe space. Play is how we’ve historically practiced skills and passed on knowledge.
If you’re interested in learning more about any of the games or designers mentioned, you can learn more here:
- Indie Board Game Designers #89 — Jessica Creane
- Doctors Without Borders to Illustrate Global Refugee Crisis With Interactive Exhibit
- Designing Role Playing Games That Don’t Center On Violence — METATOPIA ONLINE 2020
