Using the Game

Tips for the Game as a Learning/Training Tool

Users’ Guide

The Essentials: ways to make better use of the game experience

Essential #1: Bring people together whenever possible.  The game is meant to be played by people who have not experienced homelessness and people who have… together.  We have played it by inviting people from the community into the shelter to play with those living there.  We have played it by bringing people who had experienced into community gatherings and professional workshops.

Essential #2: Play the game before leading it.  As you will see, the game plays easily.  But like driving to a place you’ve never been before, it’s easier and more comfortable after the first time. But this is a simulation of homelessness, in which at times things are imprecise.  So if things seem unclear, decide what works best for you.  That’s what the designers did, around their tables at the Inn.  By playing it and feeling comfortable with it as play¸ you’ll be free to observe play when you use it, and be capable of providing any guidance that would be helpful.

Essential #3: Finishing is not essential (but don’t announce that.)  We’ve learned that timed play works well.  In testing, in a group of ten games, two might finish in an hour of play. While the desire to finish is part of what drives play, the impact of the game is in the play itself, and not in the finish.  Some of the players in 50-minute testing expressed the desire to continue playing, but rated the impact high nonetheless. 

Essential #4: The Elements of the game – using them to encourage interaction: Every word on the board and on the cards came from the guests at Goodwill Inn.  The situations are their situations.  The Challenges are those they faced, the Opportunities those they experienced of hoped for.  The Questions are those they would like to have asked those who refused to understand their homeless condition.  The five credentials and the waiting are the frustrations that they felt.  Here’s a look at each element, and some tips for encouraging their best use.

The Board

• It’s large and the writing small – by design. We learned that these “problems” encouraged people to help each other; whoever is closest reads, and moves the pawn.  Some real individualists choose to reach over and do it themselves, and that’s OK too.  But play seems to happen more interactively because of these factors.
• It starts in the middle. It’s a simulator, remember?  We start in the middle too, most of us.  We have hopes of our own place, and for most of us, that works out.  But we know recently how even professional people can end up homeless.
• Guiding its use: Encourage the players to read out loud what the space says, and not to rush into the next roll, or overlap the rolls out of haste.  Encourage communication and conversation at tables that seem to be rushing through.

 The WAIT Spaces and White Credential Cards

• Why wait? Remember that this game was designed by people experiencing homelessness. The first name that they gave this game was “Ups and Downs, the Waiting Game.”  Again and again, they found their determination undermined by the helplessness of waiting for someone in control to make a decision or take action.  To call the person too often could put them on the bottom of the pile.  To not follow up could lead them to be forgotten.
• Guiding their use: We’ve learned that players who are stuck on the WAIT space for a long time are often forgotten by the other players, who are busy getting on with things – just like life. If you are facilitating, you might watch for this, and encourage the players to reflect on this.  The frustration of the waiting player can be the most impactful experience of the game.  It hurts, just like the real thing.

The Opportunity and Challenge Cards

• Why? While the board spaces provide some ups and downs, these cards provide more detailed situations.  They also provide an additional element of just plain luck – landing on Opportunity spaces or Challenge spaces.  Finally, especially in the case of Challenge Cards, they give the player who has never been homeless a sense of the negative realities that others at the table have
• Guiding their use: Encourage players to read the card out loud to the other players, as they should with the writing on the spaces on which they land. Players often find opportunities to share their own experiences, empathy, etc., in these exchanges.

 The Question Cards

• Why? When we took the game to a professional graphic designer, we were looking at the possibility of the game being played by families or social groups, not including people who had been homeless.  We wondered…where would the heartbreak and empathy come from, if there is not a person there who has been homeless?  The game is not intended to be merely entertaining, but eye-opening.  Rick suggested Question Cards, and they have become one of the most effective elements of the game.  After his suggestion, I went to my next class at the Inn, and asked them to think of one person dear to them who just doesn’t understand or appreciate their situation, who writes them off or fails to accept their dignity.  Then I asked them to frame questions that they would like to pose to that person, asking them to imagine themselves to be homeless.  This was the source of the questions on the cards.
• Guiding their use: The instructions direct players to read the card out loud when they pick it up, but not to answer it until the beginning of their next turn, before they roll the die.  AS with other cards, they should read it to the other players, as they will address their answer to the other players, as well.  If the player is imagining her/himself as homeless, this can be very impactful.  The purpose of waiting until the next turn to respond is twofold.   First, it gives the player time to reflect and respond authentically, rather than make a defensively hurried, perhaps even flippant response.  Secondly, their question when read aloud naturally prompts other players to consider it too.  Thus response often turns out to be discussion.  Homeless players end up informing or encouraging non-homeless players.  This can be a gold mine of self disclosure and empathy.  Sometimes just by chance questions are drawn continuously.  This is done intentionally, because it encourages interaction on a deeper and deeper level.

Using Your Extra (Blank) Cards

• Why – Continuous improvement and local adaptation. When we were refining the game, the content on the Opportunity, Challenge, and Question Cards kept getting better and better, based on ideas that came up during play with our homeless players.  As you make use of the game, you may find these cards as opportunities to improve the game for your  Secondly, if you are working with youth or other special populations, these extra cards can be a way of adapting the game to your particular needs.
• Guiding their use: There are endless possibilities, but here are a few ideas.  Take some time to play the game a few times before deciding what to try.
  • Ask players after playing the game what cards they would add. Remember that all content on the board and cards is currently from people who have been homeless, and at least consider limiting new content to their
  • As you develop your own group of users who host and coordinate the game, consider using the opportunity to add content as a facilitator for their own learning. Reflect on the experience of play, analyze the thoughts that emerge in reflection (especially storytelling) and change the game by adding new content on these cards…and repeat the process again and again.