An epidemic can be defined as a “Sudden, widespread occurrence of a particular undesirable phenomenon”. An empire as “an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority”. Both of which go hand in hand with the human species, interlocking together, building off of each other to get the society we have today.
My final project tries to grapple with these two issues, tying them together in the best presentation form I know-gaming. It helps break down complex ideas by adding passion and personal stakes to the situation, a lesson that I learned from Professor Palmer’s Papal Simulation class at this University. So I decided to make a game and play test it with friends to try and tackle the concept of short term versus longer term priorities, not by trying to punish players horrifically for not solely focusing on one large scale threat or another as some grim warning of doom. No, the goal of the game is to show how easy it is to focus on the long term, and give a real sense of scale that dealing with existential threats while possible isn’t easy, but is expensive and time consuming, especially in an atmosphere were Glory and Prestige are things nations really value.
The Game:
Epidemics and Empires is a four person semi cooperative semi competitive game, where each player gets a nation. They get to build said nation from the age of the war of all against all to the future. The goal of the game is to use your resources (the cards you draw each age) to gain Prestige and Glory, with whoever having the most Glory in the game being victorious at the end. However, one must be careful, for if they don’t deal with the great endemic Threats ever present in the game, all players will instead lose. The game is about trying to balance the drive for victory with the real systematic changes that must be made.
For the competitive aspects, the goal was both variability and realism, which is sparked by the card draw system. While everyone draws seven cards, some hands are simply better than others, which drives an inequality of resources which generally puts one player on top of all the others, and drives some level of competition. It makes sitting and waiting impossible if your goal is to be victorious, so it’s the fundamental driver of action. The four stats are designed to cover the aspects of nations, while players have the balance of needing to work interdisciplinarity to solve problems. One can’t just put all their resources into science and expect there to be no consequences. As is true with this class and our own society, mixes the disciplines allows for more than ignoring or undervaluing one or another.
The Threats:
This is paired with the major push to cooperation, the existential threats, simply called Threats in the document. There are five of them in total, and as the game progresses more and more are introduced, symbolizing how these threats come hand in hand with human action.
The first is introduced in the second phase of the game, the hyper condensed medieval to renaissance period’s greatest killer, the Plague. It works off of human connection and travel, with a disregard for science as we all saw first hand with COVid-19, and also moves with armies, as commerce and war have been great movers of disease throughout history.
The second is introduced in the third phase, which is supposed to be the age of our “Great” Wars. Our Word Wars. With it, comes the invention of the atomic bomb, and the potential for annihilation. This threat is the only one that can simply end the game immediately. While our class constantly believed that Climate Change is the most inevitable, our early readings made it clear that it would be our most instantaneous.
Speaking of Climate Change, one of the two Threats introduced in phase four. Inevitability is how I would describe it. While you can go green, it is expensive in resources you may not have. Climate change, unlike all others, doesn’t do anything extremely explicit but get worse-however, if it isn’t dealt with by the end of the game, extinction becomes much more likely.
The other is misinformation chaos, a problem that comes hand in hand with the great idea that is freedom of speech. As we saw this year with the riot on the capital and even discredited theories about vaccines, misinformation can easily lead to a lack of trust in science, increased xenophobia and even create civil unrest.
The last phase is our optimistic future, a land where we hope to have more resources and abilities to stop these threats. It also comes with the final responsibilities humanity inherits in this game, A.I. While achieving something as close to raw true sentience is more akin to a shot in the dark, I remembered the words of our speaker Stuart Russell who informed us the question of A.I. wasn’t built around whether or not we achieved it, it was based about our perspectives and ethics dealing with it.
While these epidemics are dangerous and world ending, one can put themselves at a disadvantage to try and deal with them, lower one’s ending total to try and stave off these threats. But there is nothing forcing you, and at the end of the day, the chances of survival are just that- chances. And a player is more than welcomed to roll the dice.
The Theory Behind it All:
The goal of this game is to try and recreate this dilemma of selfishness vs. the greater good, and try and simulate the thought process of the leaders of nations who choose short term benefit over long term solutions because short term you get so much more, and even long term one can benefit from other nations’ sacrifices. It’s so much easier to simply focus on what’s in front of you and ignore the big picture. And it isn’t just selfishness. The game is built with the intention of long term consequences, and showing that there are consequences for ignoring your people and solely focusing on the world at large. One still has the objective to win by getting the highest score, and it is really difficult when you don’t focus on your Nation but on the world to get it. National duty and pride are real responsibilities, and the question becomes the duty for what is best for your people, versus what is best for the general future. It encapsulates the tug that asks should one sacrifice now for the future. This balance is a tightrope, and the quest for glory can quickly end in ruin.
But there is hope. There is always the chance that players put aside their differences and work together, knowing that they may not end up on top. It’s not a fun pill to swallow for the players or for national leaders, but if they all work together, saving the human species becomes achievable. It requires trust, communication, and peace to focus science towards the continuation of humanity, but it is most certainly possible.
The game has been play tested twice, with each game making it to the end of the game after 2-3 hours. Play styles have been wonderfully variable, with all players realizing later in the game how much they should contribute, spending hundreds of points in resources to try. Amazingly enough, everyone did contribute when push came to shove. And while every player that doesn’t achieve the top rank may be saddened, each walks away from the successful game saying that some glory, some points, some proof of existence, is better than nothing.
Resources:
Epidemics & Empires Play Sheet