The Change Game: A Critical Game For Recognizing & Generating Alternative Futures

People do not think about or grapple with futures enough. Mainstream systems (government, media, and more) typically generate the futures with which we do engage, and these futures often fall within narrow bounds of thought that support a singular hegemonic future vision. This Major Research Project aims to empower people to recognize the possibility, and generate narratives, of plural futures. Specifically, building on past work, the research explores how a game might engage people in exploring and elaborating plural futures, especially those diverging from mainstream thought. If the game succeeds, players now understand that many futures are possible, and that they can envision these futures. They might be more likely to engage with myriad nuanced worlds, creating and expressing critical divergent opinions, thus challenging a singular hegemonic understanding of “the” future