What is Penguicon?

Penguicon is a annual convention held in the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area every spring that consists of a three-day event of learning, playing, and sharing based on the two foundations of Open Source and Science Fiction.

“Over 1,600 nerds, geeks, and fans attend Penguicon every year to celebrate and share in what we all love. We are an all-volunteer, not-for-profit convention which brings together every kind of geek – software developers, moviemakers, authors and their fans, hackers, foodies – for a weekend of sharing in panels, workshops, and parties. “
-Penguicon 101

Friday – Fellowship of Fools: The (Friendship) Game at Penguicon 2019

Casey O’Donnell and Hermione Banger, the creators of FoF: The Game, will be at Penguicon this year and will be hosting 3 sessions in the Gaming Track.

On Friday, May 3rd, at 8:00 pm we’ll describe some of the background and mechanics of FoF: The Game, but focus primarily on having attendees play Fellowship of Fools: The (Friendship) Game, facilitating play through three different multiplayer gameplay modes: Conversation Mode, Signifier Mode and It’s Poker Night. We will use these same gameplay modes for the Friendship With Possible Benefits Session on Saturday night as well.

You can read the play instructions for these gameplay modes below to familiarize yourself with them beforehand and get a sneak peek of some of the Romance and Sexuality cards and prompts that we will be bringing to Penguicon for people to play with.

We like to think of this session as “Speed Friending + Playing Games.” Last year there were several “Speed Friending” sessions at Penguicon, but it does not appear to be on the schedule for this year.

Whether it’s best friends playing together or strangers meeting for the first time, we think Fellowship of Fools: The (Friendship) Game offers many ways to develop or deepen friendships in unique ways for every player. The game has questions that help foster intimacy and qualities that give players a more engaging experience with a longer replay value.

We won’t be bringing decks for everyone, instead each group will get 5 Situation Cards and 20 Topic Cards for a total of 50 prompts to play with.

Saturday – Friendship with Possible Benefits Session: (Ages 18+)

The following night, May 4th at 10:00 pm, we’ll be hosting a session with the Romance and Sexuality decks of FoF: The Game for players ages 18 and over.

We’re hoping that both established partners and people who developed a connection from the Friendship play on Friday will return to see how compatible they are on a Romantic or Sexual level. We also hope to see some solo or single folks come and see some connections develop with other players.

Again, we’ll be giving each group 5 Situation Cards and 20 Topic Cards and doing timed multiplayer gameplay to give players a chance to look at some of the prompts and play a few different multiplayer gameplay modes.

We’ll start players off with the Romance deck, and let them group themselves as they wish for 10 minutes of easy Conversation Mode with Signifier Mod (players can pick any Topic prompt in the deck and ask it of each other.)

Romance Deck:

Conversation Mode (with Signifier Mod): 10 Minutes

2+ Players (2-8 recommended)

This game play mode is the quickest and most accessible. Players use the Topic Card Prompts to prompt meaningful conversation.

This game play mode uses only the Topic Cards.

The player with the next closest birthday starts first, then it goes in clockwise order.
The first player can choose any Topic Prompt from any of the Topic Cards.
They can direct the Topic Prompt of their choice to another player to answer, or answer it for themselves.
If they direct a Topic Prompt to another player, that player can choose not to answer by saying “Pass.”
If that player does choose to answer, they can ask that Topic Prompt back to the player that directed it to them.
After the Topic Prompt is answered, the card is returned to the other Topic Cards and then the Topic Cards are given to the player clockwise, who will then repeat the process.
Play continues until no longer desired or time is up.

“It’s Poker-Night” Mode (with Intentional Mod) : 15 Minutes

3+ Players (3-8 recommended)

In this mode, the “dealer” directs the game, but is also a player. Like poker, there is more risk in this mode. Don’t ask if you’re not willing to also answer.

Example spread:

Directions:

The player who has most recently played FoF is the dealer. If no one has played FoF before, then the player with the next closest birthday is the dealer.
The dealer shuffles the Situation Cards and draws one Situation Card.
The dealer picks between the Situation Prompts on the card and reads their chosen prompt aloud to the other players, then places the card on the table.
The dealer then shuffles and deals to each player from the Topic Cards the number of cards indicated next to the Situation Prompt chosen. This means players (and the dealer) will receive either two or four cards.
During gameplay, each player can discard 1-4 cards and then draw the same amount from the Topic Card deck during their turn. Each player can do this only once per Situation Prompt.
When playing a Topic Card, players have three options:
- Play the card for themselves… (“I’m calling.”)
- Play it to another player… (“I’m raising.”)*
- Play it for the entire table! (“I’m going all in!”)*
The person clockwise from the dealer goes first, playing one Topic Prompt of their choice from one Topic Card in their hand in one of the above ways in Step 6. After it is played it is left next to the Situation Card in play. Answers to a Topic Prompt should try to relate the Topic Prompt to the Situation Prompt in play.
- Play is voluntary: A player may choose to not answer a Topic Prompt by saying “I fold.” However, if a player asks another player or the entire table, they MUST answer it themselves!
Going clockwise, each player (and the dealer) takes turns playing one Topic Prompt from one Topic Card in their hand at a time.
Proceed playing as few or as many Topic Cards desired until the group decides another Situation Prompt is desired.
The player clockwise to the dealer now becomes the dealer, played cards are returned to the decks, play can start again from Step 1.

Sexuality Deck:

After 15 minutes, those that want to (or dare to!) can move on to the Sexuality Deck for the second half of the Saturday night session. All other players can continue playing the Romance Deck in It’s Poker-Night Mode, or return to Conversation Mode.

Again, we’ll start off gameplay with the easiest multiplayer gameplay mode, Conversation Mode, so that players can look at pretty much all of the Topic Cards and Topic Prompts provided and get a feel for this particular deck before setting off on a more complex gameplay mode.

Conversation Mode (with Signifier Mod): 10 minutes

2+ Players (2-8 recommended)

This game play mode is the quickest and most accessible. Players use the Topic Card Prompts to prompt meaningful conversation. This game play mode uses only the Topic Cards.

The player with the next closest birthday starts first, then it goes in clockwise order.
The first player can choose any Topic Prompt from any of the Topic Cards.
They can direct the Topic Prompt of their choice to another player to answer, or answer it for themselves.
If they direct a Topic Prompt to another player, that player can choose not to answer by saying “Pass.”
If that player does choose to answer, they can ask that Topic Prompt back to the player that directed it to them.
After the Topic Prompt is answered, the card is returned to the other Topic Cards and then the Topic Cards are given to the player clockwise, who will then repeat the process.
Play continues until no longer desired or time is up.

Signifier Mode (with Signifier Mod and Intentional Mod): 15 minutes

2+ Players (2-6 recommended)

Use Fellowship of Fools to intentionally explore a specific Prompt (Situation or Topic) with other players.

Example spread:

Directions:

Together, pick one Prompt from the Topic Cards or Situation Cards to explore in more detail with each other.
This card is your Signifier Card, place it with the chosen prompt upright on a table or somewhere visible.
The player with the next upcoming birthday goes first and shuffles the Topic Cards and Situation Cards together. They draw as many cards as the number next to the Signifier Card’s Prompt that is in play. Place these cards in front of you without looking at them or flipping them over.
Pass the cards to the next player clockwise, they then shuffle the cards themselves and draw and place the cards the same as in Step 3.
Repeat for all players until everyone has drawn their cards.
Once everyone has shuffled and drawn cards, all players should turn over their cards at the same time on the table.
Each player selects one prompt from each card they drew that they want to discuss in relation to the Signifier prompt in play. Unwanted cards are discarded and the cards they choose to play are kept in front of the players with the chosen prompts upright. Players do not have to play every card drawn, but they must play at least one.
The first player then uses the prompts they chose to explore the Signifier Card Prompt in play, discussing how these prompts relate to the Signifier Prompt and their own perspectives on it. Other players can comment or ask questions, let conversation flow naturally but try to stay on-topic.
When the player has felt that they have covered each card chosen, the next player clockwise from them can then go.
Repeat until all players have gone.
Once all players have gone, let conversation open up and see if an agreement can be come to about the common situation/topic that the Signifier Card’s prompt helped the group explore.

Sunday: Friendship Games!

On Sunday at 12:00 pm we’ll be hosting our last session of the convention, which will be on Friendship Games in general as a new sub-genre of games.

“Friendship Games! What are they? Who’s working on them? What do they look like? What might they look like in the future?”

Various monikers have been used to designate games outside of the traditional “entertainment” space – Serious Games, Persuasive Games, Games for Impact, Games for Change, Learning Games… a smaller subset of those games focused explicitly on what might generally be referred to as “relationships” or “friendships” under the the name Affection Games or Empathy Games. However, little has been done to look explicitly at games designed to foster new connections and friendships, with one recent exception.

While it might be stated that, “many games can foster friendship,” with players learning or working together or players using games to spend time with family members, the focus has not been explicitly on games designed for creating or fostering new or old friendships.

We’ll talk about what games are out there that are explicitly focused on fostering friendships and closeness, what are their common features and components, and what can we imagine them looking like in the future. We’ll share what has been written so far about this relatively new sub-genre of games and how it can better play/player interactions/enjoyment of other games not explicitly focused on fostering friendship. We will also bring a few sample games for people to look at and, if time allows, play for themselves.