The Group Work Game

4+ Players * Role-Playing Game * Improv/Narrative-Based * 30+ min * Replayable * Age 13+/Adult

Rules of the Game Click to Flip the Card

What Is The Group Game? card is black with a picture of a mirror on a stand. Flip to learn about the game.

Card reads: The Group Game: This improv-based, story-telling role-playing game promotes group work on the subject of group work. What participants take from project-based group work depends on their personality and their social position, as well as their gender and race. The Group Game gives players an opportunity to approach a project from multiple perspectives and learn about their roles while having a hilariously good time.

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Trigger Warnings Click to Flip the Card

Trigger Warning Card for The Group Game is orange and shows a bear with his hand up to indicate STOP

Text of card reads Trigger Warnings: Confronting these problems without solving or resolving them in real life: Racism Sexual Harassment Fascism Dementia Climate Change Zombies Your Entitlements

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Each Player Chooses a Role Card

(If you get a repeat card, shuffle the deck and draw again. More than 4 players, any extra players are Slackers)

Click for Your Role Card shows curious dog on black background.

Happy hog cartoon character on red background of Credit Hog Card for The Group Game

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The Drudge Picks a Scenario Card and Reads it Aloud

Scenario Card for The Group Game with old time movie camera on green background

Scenario Card The Group Game has text Sexual Harassment Coverup. Someone high up in your school/company/organization is a serial sexual harasser. Multiple claims have been settled against them, all with nondisclosure agreements. Your group’s task is to find out how much money the company has spent on this problem and how many people were in on the cover-up.

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Take Turns Drawing an Action Card Based on Your Role and tell the story

If you get a repeat card, shuffle the deck and draw again

The Drudge action card shows sad owl. Click to get actions.

$Drudge Card for The Group Game has text Grading Grind. A new rule means you will be marked down if you do not delegate work enough. Everything you do has points attached. The smallest infraction reduces your score. In the new grading rubric, you are competing against your teammates as well as against other teams. You now have the extra responsibility of making it appear that other people are pulling their own weight.$

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Happy hog cartoon character on red background of Credit Hog Card for The Group Game

Credit Hog Card for The Group Game has text Credit Check. You were expecting to receive a communal grade on the project. At the last minute, the grading rules change. You are now graded only on your own work that you can verify having done. How can you get someone else to make it look as if you did the work? Consider falsifying Google Docs, doctoring forwarded emails and anything else that does not take much time.

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Happy cartoon Bird on bright yellow background for The Friend Role Card in The Group Game

Friend Card for The Group Game has text Meaning. Ask the group to think about the deeper meaning of the work, the inner flaws of the project and what larger cultural trends it reflects. Are you working on a history project that only tells the story from one point-of-view? Is your college built on land that was stolen from Native Americans? Are you selling a product that damages the environment? Is the war you are fighting in a just war?

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Goofy animal with tongue hanging out on blue background for The Slacker Card in the Group Game

Slacker Card for The Group Game has text Value. It is common to assume The Slacker contributes nothing to the group. But sometimes the person who is outside the group has valuable insights that could be useful to the team. While you were vaping behind the dumpster did you overhear a crucial private conversation? Could you find a much simpler, easier, low-stress way of doing what the group is doing without all the angst and effort built into the existing institutional dynamic?

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At any time The Slacker can choose a Wild Card

Funny smiling dinosaur cartoon on purple background for The Wild Card for The Group Game

Wild Card for The Group Game has image of a card joker and text The Joker. Instead of assigning each player to choose a card from their own Action Card deck as is usually done, this time ask one member to choose a card from another Role’s deck (i.e. The Credit Hog chooses from The Drudge deck).

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At any time The Friend can select a Time Out Card

Stopwatch cartoon on an aqua background for Time Out Card for Group Game

Time Out card for The Group Game shows a black and white graphic that says IRL and text: The Friend asks each player to publicly describe what group role they usually play in real life and give examples.

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The Credit Hog decides when the work is done

If multiple groups are playing, The Credit Hog presents the group’s work to the larger group

If multiple groups are playing, The Credit Hog presents the group’s work to the larger group