So, I'm currently taking a class about video games...
and how they can change the world for the better, as "Games for Change." These are games that, aside from just their entertainment value, also contain another purpose, such as one in education, recovery, or community. I'll probably expound more on the material of the class later and how I'm planning on applying it to a museum or history setting, but for now, I would like to comment on a section I just read in one of our books, Reality is Broken, by Jane McGonigal.
This book, on top of containing interesting information about video games and how they can facilitate change in the world, has become my own personal motivational book on how to achieve and create more happiness in life. The current section I have just finished reading discussed "alternative reality games," or games played in real life (and not *just* a virtual environment) in order to enjoy it more. The main chapters are titled "Leveling Up In Life" (Making Difficult Activities More Rewarding), "Fun with Strangers" (Creating New Real-World Communities), and "Happiness Hacking" (Helping Us Adopt the Daily Habits of the World's Happiest People). I will probably go into more detail about these later, but for now, I would just like to comment on the last chapter, "Happiness Hacking," mostly because it contains a section that related to a previous blog post of mine on English graveyards versus American ones.
In "Happiness Hacking," McGonigal talks about how thinking about death once in a while actually makes you happier. She quotes Eric Weiner and his report on global happiness when he writes that "death is a subject that, oddly, comes up an awful lot in my search for happiness. Maybe we can't really by happy without first coming to terms with our mortality." McGonigal's solution to this was to create Tombstone Hold 'Em, which is essentially poker played in graveyards. Instead of using a full deck, however, tombstones act as cards, and after three normal cards have been set down, players have to find the best hand by using tombstones. The trick to this is that it is played in pairs, and to get two "cards," players must touch these tombstones while still be touching each other, so the tombstones must be relatively close together. The ultimate aim of this game is to, first off, get people into graveyards which, as McGonigal mentioned, are being visited less and less and are rapidly becoming a single-use, empty space that hardly ever get any one in them, which results in decreased funding for upkeep. Further, graves generally get cleaned up after these games. Finally, the ultimate goal is to get people thinking about death and being more comfortable with its presence, as opposed to just pushing it out of mind.
While this is an interesting idea, I can't help but be a bit skeptical and wary of it. For one thing, most New Mexican graveyards only have two kinds of tombstones: cross or inlaid in the ground. In this game, however, the suit of your card is determined by the shape of the grave. Further, in the more rural graveyards, there are no writing on certain markers, which, in the game, would normally determine the number your card is. So, I'm really not sure how well this can played in any New Mexican (or western in general) graveyard. Also, there's a certain amount of superstition that is going into this. I've actually gone to a graveyard in La Joya, New Mexico on a yearly basis as a kid and one of the things I was taught to never do was to step on a grave. It is considered disrespectful and, even though there are just bodies in the ground, there is that sense that the place you are stepping on belongs to this specific person.
In spite of these worries, McGonigal brings up an interesting point about thinking about death. I couldn't help but apply it to the idea of the end of the world which, as I'm sure many know, has been a hot topic from 2000 on, to the point where you can expect some sort of end of the world prophecy at least once a year. Would this mean that we are more used to the idea of death? Perhaps not, but there are plenty of films and media out there that look into the very idea of the end of the world and what you would do if the world was ending. Two of my favorite end of the world pieces of media are the "End of the World" episode of Parks and Recreation, an NBC comedy and Forever's Not So Long, a short film by Shawn Morrison and Garrett Murray. Both of these address the idea of what would you do if the world was ending, when there isn't really any time to do anything significant, and it lends itself to an almost selfish, but limited scope, in doing something that you most enjoy or being with someone that you most value. Forever's Not So Long, especially, recognizes the moment of contemplation that would result from an announcement of the end of the world, when there is nothing you can do to survive, and any long term goals or dreams you might have had are unreachable, and all you really have left are the simple day-to-day activities of life, the small actions that you can do in a day or a few hours, and the potential of people you can spend them with. This is what Tombstone Hold 'Em is trying to achieve. It is attempting to get people to look at death and really contemplate what makes them happiest. The game is meant to not only make people become more comfortable with the idea of dying, but also of thinking about their own mortality, which spurs contemplation of life and if they were to die, would they have any regrets. This is similar to many stories of people who found out they only had so long to live, and so they dump whatever job they have and then choose to live life instead, doing things they never thought (but hoped) they would, spending time with people that they really feel are important.
In terms of games that talk about death and mortality, Tombstone Hold 'Em is an excellent alternative reality game that brings these ideas into play. While I might never play it, it brings up good points and issues that should be thought of and considered. Overall, it really comes down to one question: If the world were ending, what would you do with your last day, and why?
This book, on top of containing interesting information about video games and how they can facilitate change in the world, has become my own personal motivational book on how to achieve and create more happiness in life. The current section I have just finished reading discussed "alternative reality games," or games played in real life (and not *just* a virtual environment) in order to enjoy it more. The main chapters are titled "Leveling Up In Life" (Making Difficult Activities More Rewarding), "Fun with Strangers" (Creating New Real-World Communities), and "Happiness Hacking" (Helping Us Adopt the Daily Habits of the World's Happiest People). I will probably go into more detail about these later, but for now, I would just like to comment on the last chapter, "Happiness Hacking," mostly because it contains a section that related to a previous blog post of mine on English graveyards versus American ones.
In "Happiness Hacking," McGonigal talks about how thinking about death once in a while actually makes you happier. She quotes Eric Weiner and his report on global happiness when he writes that "death is a subject that, oddly, comes up an awful lot in my search for happiness. Maybe we can't really by happy without first coming to terms with our mortality." McGonigal's solution to this was to create Tombstone Hold 'Em, which is essentially poker played in graveyards. Instead of using a full deck, however, tombstones act as cards, and after three normal cards have been set down, players have to find the best hand by using tombstones. The trick to this is that it is played in pairs, and to get two "cards," players must touch these tombstones while still be touching each other, so the tombstones must be relatively close together. The ultimate aim of this game is to, first off, get people into graveyards which, as McGonigal mentioned, are being visited less and less and are rapidly becoming a single-use, empty space that hardly ever get any one in them, which results in decreased funding for upkeep. Further, graves generally get cleaned up after these games. Finally, the ultimate goal is to get people thinking about death and being more comfortable with its presence, as opposed to just pushing it out of mind.
While this is an interesting idea, I can't help but be a bit skeptical and wary of it. For one thing, most New Mexican graveyards only have two kinds of tombstones: cross or inlaid in the ground. In this game, however, the suit of your card is determined by the shape of the grave. Further, in the more rural graveyards, there are no writing on certain markers, which, in the game, would normally determine the number your card is. So, I'm really not sure how well this can played in any New Mexican (or western in general) graveyard. Also, there's a certain amount of superstition that is going into this. I've actually gone to a graveyard in La Joya, New Mexico on a yearly basis as a kid and one of the things I was taught to never do was to step on a grave. It is considered disrespectful and, even though there are just bodies in the ground, there is that sense that the place you are stepping on belongs to this specific person.
In spite of these worries, McGonigal brings up an interesting point about thinking about death. I couldn't help but apply it to the idea of the end of the world which, as I'm sure many know, has been a hot topic from 2000 on, to the point where you can expect some sort of end of the world prophecy at least once a year. Would this mean that we are more used to the idea of death? Perhaps not, but there are plenty of films and media out there that look into the very idea of the end of the world and what you would do if the world was ending. Two of my favorite end of the world pieces of media are the "End of the World" episode of Parks and Recreation, an NBC comedy and Forever's Not So Long, a short film by Shawn Morrison and Garrett Murray. Both of these address the idea of what would you do if the world was ending, when there isn't really any time to do anything significant, and it lends itself to an almost selfish, but limited scope, in doing something that you most enjoy or being with someone that you most value. Forever's Not So Long, especially, recognizes the moment of contemplation that would result from an announcement of the end of the world, when there is nothing you can do to survive, and any long term goals or dreams you might have had are unreachable, and all you really have left are the simple day-to-day activities of life, the small actions that you can do in a day or a few hours, and the potential of people you can spend them with. This is what Tombstone Hold 'Em is trying to achieve. It is attempting to get people to look at death and really contemplate what makes them happiest. The game is meant to not only make people become more comfortable with the idea of dying, but also of thinking about their own mortality, which spurs contemplation of life and if they were to die, would they have any regrets. This is similar to many stories of people who found out they only had so long to live, and so they dump whatever job they have and then choose to live life instead, doing things they never thought (but hoped) they would, spending time with people that they really feel are important.
In terms of games that talk about death and mortality, Tombstone Hold 'Em is an excellent alternative reality game that brings these ideas into play. While I might never play it, it brings up good points and issues that should be thought of and considered. Overall, it really comes down to one question: If the world were ending, what would you do with your last day, and why?
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