diff --git a/en/drafts/originals/designing-a-timeline-tabletop-simulator.md b/en/drafts/originals/designing-a-timeline-tabletop-simulator.md index c87b38868..04ca232b5 100644 --- a/en/drafts/originals/designing-a-timeline-tabletop-simulator.md +++ b/en/drafts/originals/designing-a-timeline-tabletop-simulator.md @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ --- -title: "Designing a _Timeline_ for the Tabletop and Tabletop Simulator" +title: "Designing a Timeline for the Tabletop and Tabletop Simulator" slug: designing-a-timeline-tabletop-simulator layout: lesson collection: lessons @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ review-ticket: https://github.com/programminghistorian/ph-submissions/issues/553 difficulty: TBC activity: TBC topics: [topic, topic] -abstract: This lesson demonstrates how to use _nanDECK_ to design and publish either printed or digital playing cards to create your own themed deck to test a play group's understanding of events using the _Timeline_ game mechanic, where players take turns adding cards depicting historical and cultural events in chronological order. In this tutorial, we will create a _Timeline_-like game with a local history theme, with a focus on best practices when handling and using digitized historical objects. +abstract: This lesson demonstrates how to use _nanDECK_ to design and publish your own deck of printed or digital playing cards, and use them to test a group's knowledge of historical events through a _Timeline_-like game mechanic. This tutorial will focus on best practices for handling digitized historical objects. avatar_alt: Visual description of lesson image doi: XX.XXXXX/phen0000 --- @@ -26,25 +26,25 @@ doi: XX.XXXXX/phen0000 We no longer require students to memorize tables of historical events and their respective years of occurrence through the practice of rote learning, as was done in mid-nineteenth century America (Rosenberg). Setting aside the broader arguments for and against teaching chronology in the classroom (Hodkinson and Smith), this lesson is written from the position that it is useful to “help students develop a rich body of knowledge in our content areas” (Lang) and that games are well situated to serve in this pursuit. -Challenging students to make their own games or to make a modification (or mod) of an existing game can provide an opportunity for those students to learn how to manipulate and transform digital objects into physical objects which can be further manipulated and transformed for rich and shared experiences. This tutorial will outline how students can create their own paper or digital versions of games using the chronology building mechanic popularized by Frederic Henry’s commercial game, _Timeline_. +Challenging students to make their own games, or to make a modification ('mod') of an existing game, can provide an opportunity to teach them to manipulate and transform digital objects into physical objects, which you can then further manipulate to share rich, pedagogical experiences. This tutorial will show how students can create their own paper or digital versions of games using the chronology building mechanic popularized by Frederic Henry’s commercial game, _Timeline_. -Just as word processors are an essential tool for creating printed books, designers of tabletop games regularly use digital tools to create paper prototypes of their developing work. This tutorial will introduce the reader to two of these tools: Andrea Nini’s _nanDECK_ and _Tabletop Simulator_, two specialized digital tools that both amateur and professional game designers regularly employ in their work. +Just as authors or publishers use word processors to create printed books, designers of tabletop games regularly use digital tools to create paper prototypes of their work. This tutorial will introduce you to two of these tools: Andrea Nini’s _nanDECK_ and _Tabletop Simulator_, two specialized digital tools used by both amateur and professional game designers. -As an instructor, you will have the opportunity to direct students' attention to the different affordances of paper versus digital versions of the same informational object. With the ability to play the same game around both a physical and a digital tabletop, students can have the chance to reflect on how the medium affects their experiences of game play. With their new found ability to change the assets or pieces of familiar games, students will gain the ability to further modify other games and to explore what happens when the rules of well-known games are changed (Zimmerman, 2023). +As an instructor, you will have the opportunity to direct students' attention to the different affordances of paper versus digital versions of the same informational object. Given the ability to play the same game around a physical and a digital tabletop, students can reflect on the ways in which the medium affects the experience of game play. With their new-found ability to modify the assets or pieces of familiar games, students will gain the ability to explore what happens when the rules of well-known games are changed (Zimmerman, 2023). ## Lesson Overview -This lesson begins with an brief consideration of games as a kind of literacy that generates experiences and a claim that there is value to teaching game design to everyone. Recognition is then given to use of tabletop and video games as being already well-established in history classrooms for at least the last half-century. T +This lesson begins by briefly considering games as a kind of 'literacy' that can generate real experiences, and by insisting on the value of teaching game design to everyone. It then recognises that tabletop and video games have already been well-established in history classrooms for at least the last half-century. -he commercially published history-themed game of _Timeline_ is then introduced, as well as some of its variants. This lesson proceeds to explain that since game mechanics do not fall under copyright protection, your own game can use a similar mechanic of _Timeline_ for play and for exploring history. With the stage set, two digital tools used by both amateur and professional game designers are introduced to the reader: _nanDECK_ and _Tabletop Simulator_. The tutorial will then outline the steps necessary to generate one's own deck of _Timeline_-like cards. +The lesson then introduces _Timeline_, a commercial history-themed game, as well as some of its variants. Since game mechanics do not fall under copyright protection, you can use the _Timeline_ mechanics to shape your own game, for play or for historical exploration. With the stage set, the tutorial introduces two digital tools commonly used by both amateur and professional game designers: _nanDECK_ and _Tabletop Simulator_. Then, it outlines the steps needed to generate one's own deck of _Timeline_-like cards. -Instructions on how to install _nanDECK_ follows. _nanDECK_ is free software that generally runs on a Windows PC. Scripts run in _nanDECK_ are used to combine images and labels to produce a set of cards. The lesson begins with an explaination of the main components of a 12-line script that was written to produce a _Timeline_ deck dedicated to the history of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. +[Instructions on how to install _nanDECK_ follows. _nanDECK_ is free software that generally runs on a Windows PC. Scripts run in _nanDECK_ are used to combine images and labels to produce a set of cards. The lesson begins with an explaination of the main components of a 12-line script that was written to produce a _Timeline_ deck dedicated to the history of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. -Then the lession steps are repeated, but this time using components that the reader can download to generate a small 6-card deck themselves. The lesson concludes by explaining how _nanDECK_ can be used to generate a PDF that can be easily parsed by _Tabletop Simulator_ to generate digital versions of cards that can be played in their virtual tabletop game environment. +Then the lession steps are repeated, but this time using components that the reader can download to generate a small 6-card deck themselves. The lesson concludes by explaining how _nanDECK_ can be used to generate a PDF that can be easily parsed by _Tabletop Simulator_ to generate digital versions of cards that can be played in their virtual tabletop game environment.] -## Playing in the Ludic Century +## Playing in the 'Ludic Century' -In 2013, game designer Eric Zimmerman published a “Manifesto for a Ludic Century” (Zimmerman, 2015) which includes these tenets: +In 2013, game designer Eric Zimmerman published a 'Manifesto for a Ludic Century' (Zimmerman, 2015) which includes these tenets: > **The Ludic Century is an era of games.** > @@ -64,43 +64,43 @@ In 2013, game designer Eric Zimmerman published a “Manifesto for a Ludic Centu > > Game design involves systems logic, social psychology, and culture hacking. To play a game deeply is to think more and more like a game designer – to tinker, retro-engineer, and modify a game in order to find new ways to play. As more people play more deeply in the Ludic Century, the lines will become increasingly blurred between game players and game designers. -These particular tenets suggest that games should be considered as a means to facilitate learning in the classroom, and that students can also benefit from an introduction to the tools of game design, so that they can learn to modify and make their own games. +These particular tenets support the idea that games should be used in the classroom as a means to facilitate learning, and that students would benefit from an introduction to game design which gives them the tools to modify and create their own games. -For the purposes of this paper, it is assumed that the reader does not need to be convinced that games should continue to maintain their long-standing presence in settings where there is teaching and learning of history (McCall). Those readers still unsure of games place in education are advised to read the "Why Games" section of “Interactive Fiction in the Humanities Classroom: How to Create Interactive Text Games Using Twine” (Kirilloff). +For the purposes of this paper, the reader does not have to believe that games ought to maintain their long-standing presence in settings of teaching and learning history (McCall). Still, readers unsure about the place of games in education are advised to read the 'Why Games' section of 'Interactive Fiction in the Humanities Classroom: How to Create Interactive Text Games Using Twine' (Kirilloff). -## What are Tabletop Games? +## What are tabletop games? -[Tabletop games](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tabletop_game) are a category of games that encompasses physical games that are generally played on or around a table . While laypeople may separate commercial games between ‘video games’ and ‘board games’, many hobbyists and those within the gaming industry use the term ‘tabletop games’ as the differentiating category for physical objects, as it is considered more encompassing than ‘board games’ as the category of Tabletop Games contains board games, dice games, card games, pen and paper games, and role-playing games. +The category of '[tabletop games]'(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tabletop_game) encompasses all physical games played on or around a table. While laypeople may simply separate commercial games between ‘video games’ and ‘board games’, many hobbyists and professionals in the gaming industry prefer the term ‘tabletop games’ over 'board games', as it is encompasses not only board games, but also dice, card, pen and paper, and role-playing games. In this lesson, you will learn how to make you own version of a tabletop card game called _Timeline_. ### What is _Timeline_? -_Timeline_ is a card game designed by Frédéric Henry, first published in 2012 and still available for purchase through the global game publisher, [Asmodee](https://www.asmodee.ca/product/timeline-access/) and its subsidiary [Zygomatic](https://www.dobblegame.com/en/games/#category-timeline). _Timeline_ can be played with 2 to 8 players. As it is a very simple game to learn to play with a group, _Timeline_ is frequently described as a party game as much as an educational game. The game is published in several languages and there are a number of differently themed versions of the game that have been published over the last ten years including, _Timeline: Inventions_, _Timeline: Music and Cinema_, _Timeline: American History_, and _Timeline Star Wars_. +_Timeline_ is a card game designed by Frédéric Henry, first published in 2012 and still available for purchase through the global game publisher [Asmodee](https://www.asmodee.ca/product/timeline-access/) and its subsidiary [Zygomatic](https://www.dobblegame.com/en/games/#category-timeline). _Timeline_ can be played with 2 to 8 players. As it is a very simple game to learn to play with a group, _Timeline_ is frequently described as a party game as much as an educational game. The game is published in several languages and in a number of differently themed versions, including _Timeline: Inventions_, _Timeline: Music and Cinema_, _Timeline: American History_, and _Timeline Star Wars_. -> **_Timeline_** is a card game where each card, on both sides, depicts a specific historical event, invention or discovery, with only one side displaying the year in which that event occurred. Players take turns placing a card from their hand in a row on the table. After placing the card, the player reveals the date on it. If the card was placed correctly with the date in chronological order with all other cards on the table, the card stays in place; otherwise the card is removed from play and the player takes another card from the deck. The first player to get rid of all their cards by placing them correctly wins. +> **_Timeline_** is a card game where each card depicts a specific historical event, invention or discovery, but only one side displays the year in which that event occurred. Players take turns placing a card from their hand in a row on the table. After placing the card, the player flips it to reveal the date on the back. If the card was placed in chronological order of all the other cards on the table, it stays in place; otherwise the card is removed from play and the player takes another card from the deck. The first player to get rid of all their cards by placing them correctly wins. -The game mechanic of adding a card into a chronological series is not exclusive to the game of _Timeline_. In 2020, Tom James Watson published [_Wikitrivia_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikitrivia), which pulls information and images relating to historical events from Wikidata and Wikipedia, to generate a one-player online version in which you try to beat your own “streak” of cards successfully added to a _Timeline_ (before you make your fourth error). In August of 2023, The New York Times launched a beta version of a weekly history quiz called [_Flashback_](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/26/upshot/flashback.html) which requires players to put eight historical events in chronological order (Leonhardt). +The game mechanic of adding cards to a chronological series is not exclusive to _Timeline_. In 2020, Tom James Watson published the single player, online game [_Wikitrivia_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikitrivia), in which you try to beat your own 'streak' of cards successfully added to a timeline of historical events pulled from Wikidata and Wikipedia. In August of 2023, The New York Times launched a beta version of a weekly history quiz called [_Flashback_](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/26/upshot/flashback.html) which requires players to organize eight historical events into chronological order (Leonhardt). -Game variations like _Wikitrivia_ and _Flashback_ are permissible under American copyright law because game rules are not copyrightable. Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act states: “In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work” (Boyden). +Game variations of _Timelines_ like _Wikitrivia_ and _Flashback_ are permissible under American copyright law because game rules are not copyrightable. Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act states: 'In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work' (Boyden). ## Why play _Timeline_ in the classroom? -Playing a game in the classroom can provide a low-stakes opportunity for students to test their knowledge outside of a formal assessment process and its associated pressures. Games like _Timeline_ not only challenges players by asking them if they have an understanding of the chronology of the events depicted on the cards in front of them, but it also demands some degree of metacognition, as skillful play requires players to assess their own confidence of the facts at hand (_Timeline & Stag Hunt_). +Playing a game in the classroom can provide a low-stakes opportunity for students to test their knowledge outside of a formal assessment process and its associated pressures. _Timeline_ not only challenges players by asking them if they have an understanding of the chronology of the events depicted on the cards in front of them, but it also demands some degree of metacognition, since skillful play requires students to assess their own confidence of the facts at hand (_Timeline & Stag Hunt_). ### How to Make Your Own Version of _Timeline_ With Index Cards -To make a card for a game using the _Timeline_ mechanic, all you need is a small set of cards. You can make your own cards by folding a sheet of paper in half, three times over, before cutting the paper into 8ths. Or you can buy and use a stack of index cards. On one side of each card you write down the name of the event in question, and on the other side of the card, you write down the name of the event and the year of the event. +To make a game that mimics the _Timeline_ mechanic, all you need is a small set of cards. You can make your own cards by folding a sheet of paper in half, three times over, before cutting the paper along the fold lines into eighths. Or, you can buy and use a stack of index cards. On the front of each card, write down only the name of the event in question and, on the back, write down the name and the year of the event. -In 2018, I made a small deck of _Timeline_ cards using index cards for my family. Inspired by my children’s fascination with the character dance emotes from the video game _Fortnite_ (when those dances suddenly became ubiquitous on professional sports fields and on playgrounds around the world), I looked up the year of origin for dances like The Twist, The Carleton, and The Nae Nae and I wrote them down on index cards along with their names. After collecting a small deck of cards, I played the game with my family and it was an enjoyable experience for everyone. Even though I could not play the game since I knew the answers, I enjoyed watching my children try to reason out and remember when one dance they knew came before another. +In 2018, I made a small deck of _Timeline_ cards using index cards for my family. Inspired by my children’s fascination with the character dance emotes from the video game _Fortnite_ (when those dances suddenly became ubiquitous on professional sports fields and on playgrounds around the world), I looked up the origin year of dances like The Twist, The Carleton, and The Nae Nae, and I built a small deck of cards with their names and years. I played the game with my family and it was an enjoyable experience for everyone. Even though I did not play the game myself, since I knew the answers, I enjoyed watching my children attempts to remember and use logic to guess the chronology of the different dances they knew. -For this type of casual game-play, the hand-made nature of these cards was not a deterrent to satisfying game play. That being said, the cards I made could be considered much improved upon if I also had included images depicting the dances in question on those cards. Photographs of the dances would have provided additional contextual cues to help my kids make educated guesses of approximately when the photo was taken. But the work of collecting images, printing copies and cutting them out, and then transferring them to cards would take an not insignificant amont effort and time. Helpfully, there are a number digital tools we can use to facilitate this work. +In this instance of casual gameplay, the hand-made cards were satisfying enough to have an enjoyable experience. That being said, the cards I made could have beeen much improved upon by adding photographs of the dances, providing additional contextual cues to help my children make educated guesses about when the photo was taken. However, the work of collecting images, printing copies, cutting them out, and then transferring them to cards would have taken a significant amont effort and time. Helpfully, there exist a number digital tools that we can use to facilitate this work. ## Why Generate and Share Your Own Version of _Timeline_ with Digital Tools in the Classroom -There are compelling reasons for learning methods to facilitate the design, iteration, and production of printed cards with digital tools. Capturing the design template of a deck of cards in a digital format and saving that template for later retrieval allows for quick reproduction of the card deck in the future. Furthermore, a digital template can be altered or amended easily (for instance, if there was confusion or other unwanted reactions from participants during play-testing or game-play). +There are compelling reasons for learning methods to facilitate the design, iteration, and production of printed cards with digital tools. Digital templates can be easily altered or amended – for instance, if there was confusion or other unwanted reactions from participants during gameplay. Capturing the design template of a deck of cards in a digital format allows us to quickly retrieve and reproduce the card deck in the future. -A digital template can also be distributed among a group of people, such as a classroom of students, so that each person can design their own individual cards that can, when finished, be collected and printed together to form a singular deck. Students can be asked to create a small set of _Timeline_ cards commerating events in a particular facet of history which could also constrained by geography. When combined, a classroom deck could be comprised of cards based on local sports history, the history of medicine, key moments in architecture, and when certain paintings were made. This mixing of histories facilitates one of the most enjoyable experiences of playing _Timeline_ as expressed by the advertising copy promoting the game. +A digital template can also be distributed among a group of people, such as a classroom of students, so that each person can design their own individual cards. When finished, these can be collected and printed together to form a singular deck. Students can be asked to create a small set of _Timeline_ cards commerating events in a particular facet of history which could also constrained by geography. When combined, a classroom deck could be comprised of cards based on local sports history, the history of medicine, key moments in architecture, and when certain paintings were made. This mixing of histories facilitates one of the most enjoyable experiences of playing _Timeline_ as expressed by the advertising copy promoting the game. >Could you drink champagne when Darwin laid the foundations of the Theory of Evolution? Was the clothes iron invented before or after Man’s first journey into space? Combine your intuition and your history knowledge with the game _Timeline_ (Zygomatic).