Teamworking in the frame of the prisonner’s dilemma. The game categorizes itself as a “semi cooperative adventure”, and that’s exactly what it is (and good at it). Castaways is a 1-4 player game that plays in about 3 hours, but mind you, it’s not just a game, it’s an adventure. When you finish playing you’ll be surely driven to reminisce a bunch of anedotes and discus with the other players on how you could/should have done this or that differently. This post will be slighter longer than the previous, but I think the game deserves it.
So what was that about teamworking, the prisoner’s dilemma and semi cooperation? I’m going to be more generic than in other posts describing the main aspects of the game since this one is more complex. Here we go:
- All the players are stranded on an island after a shipwreck and must get rescued. To be rescued, they must meet a certain criteria when they have finished exploring the whole island, which comprises things such as having built a bonfire, found a mirror, the captains log, a spy glass, made a huge “help” sign on the beach, etc. If the players don’t manage to get rescued, they all lose, but if they do, the winner will only be one of them: the one who has the best story to tell (this is represented by the one who has the most Story Points tokens). In other words: it’s all or nothing for the team as a whole, but if they make it, only one players gets the fame and glory.
- To survive on the island long enough and have a shot at being rescued, the players must not only do common tasks such as collect wood for the fire, hunt/fish, etc., but also undertake more laboriuos tasks such as building a better shelter, picking up useful items that have washed ashore from the shipwreck and exploring the island. So every turn, the players will have to organize themselves to decide who does what, but each individually will declare what they will do.
- Ok, but here’s the spice: successfully accomplishing some tasks is more likely to award you Story Point tokens (they’re the one’s that will count to win the game if the team makes it out of the island). Usually these tasks don’t add much to the common good (they tend to be selfish and/or dangerous) , but then again, you can use these tokens to reroll any dice, and succeeding some dice rolls can be very important for the team.
So why do I think this is a “make me better” game?:
- Team work is a must: even though the players are free to choose on which tasks they will engage each turn, discussing it and planning a strategy is encouraged. Deciding if a group will set out to explore the island (and which players will do it) increases the chance of success, but someone needs to keep the camp fire going and collect food, so players will have to agree on things. Plan, decide and negotiate are the conerstones of survival in Castaways.
- The prisonner’s dilemma: the prisonner’s dilemma is a situation where a group of people can decide to opt for doing something that is beneficial for the common good or, on the other hand, something that is beneficial just for themselves, at the expense of the the rest; but if all (or most) chose for the selfish option, they are all penalized heavily. This situation is present in many real life situations. Take for example a college group project (or a similar situation in a professional environment): certain work and tasks have to be done or else the whole team will suffer the consecuences, but maybe not all team members make the same effort (or any effort at all!); in this case, all the other team members will have to do their part plus the proportional part of work that is not done by those other “uncooperating” members. If the endeavor is successfull, all will be prized, even the members that didn’t do their part. This is an ever-present situation in the game, and skillfully implemented. What would you do if you were a team player and saw that someone else was acting selfishly? What would you do if you saw that everyone else was ahead of you and needed to catch up to have a shot at winning?
- Taking risks: many actions during the game require you to take risks (dice rolling, deciding for a course of action when exploring the island, etc.) The outcome might affect only you or maybe even the whole team. You will have to decide, and you will be accountable for the outcome. That’s what leadership is all about.
I insist that this game does a great job at implementing a real life team working environment. I’d also like to add that the this game is fun! The players will be immersed in an adventure as they explore the island. Usually, when they do, they will be able to decide on several approaches, which will lead the to different courses of the story. And there are many of these situations, so the game is replayable to a large extent.
I’d like to close off the post by mentioning that it is demonstrated that there exists a high correlation between social skills and our success in life, and these skills are malleable (they can be acquired, adapted and improved); I highly recommend checking this game out. Tom Vasel reviews the game in this video review. Enjoy!