The Digital Tabletop

I’ve been particularly interested in group decision making since undergoing research on improvisational theatre. A big facet of improv games is the disparity of knowledge. Improv scenes typically involve the actors having different models of what is going on and trying to come to an implicit agreement as to what the scene is, who has what character, etc. Some games go to the extreme and have certain actors be given privileged information that other don’t have.

Non-digital games have similar kinds of games. Mafia / Werewolf is a prime example. We are currently playing Battlestar Galactica at Georgia Tech as a foray both into multiplayer games and into a knowledge disparity board game (zero or more players MIGHT be Cylons). I’ll have more to post after we play a complete game without screwing up half of the rules