The Visionary Architect Game
art by James Richards, http://www.jamesrichardssketchbook.com/
GAME PREPARATIONS:
- Wooden blocks are subdivided into identical sets. Each set should be checked before play to include the same number and type of pieces.
- Players form equal teams, or divide responsibilities so each player is actively involved.
- A player from each team is selected to be the Architect in the first round. The Architects each take a set of wooden pieces and arrange them on the table as they like, sitting so they cannot see the display board.
- The other members of the team are the Design Committee.
THE COMMITTEE GAME: "The shared vision."
- An Architect builds a structure by stacking a variety of blocks one on top of the other, directed by other members of an architectural design company.
- A design is projected where the Design Committee from all teams can easily see it but the Architect cannot.
- The Design Committee now verbally assists their Architect in taking the right components and constructing a structure identical to the illustration.
- The Design Committee assists in turns. The first speaker describes the first piece and how it should be placed, then the next assists in the taking and building with the second piece, and so on, round and round until the structure is built.
- The order in which members of the Design Committee will speak should be decided at the start.
- The Architect to build the structure with the best accuracy and precision in the allotted time wins, and the team gets the Building Contract.
THE INSPIRATION GAME: "It came to me in a dream."
- All players identified as Architects for the round get to see the next design for a limited period of time; the Design Committee does not.
- The Design Committee divide the playing pieces between them and wait out of sight of the design.
- The Architects return to their groups and the design is hidden.
- Play begins on the referee's signal. The Architect must describe which piece needs to be placed first and how it should be placed from memory, directing the Design Committee to act. The Architect may not place any of the pieces.
- The Design Committee to build the structure with the best accuracy and precision in the allotted time wins, and the team gets the Building Contract.
THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS GAME: "Build it and they will come."
The Architect of each team wears a blindfold or vision-impairing safety goggles to mimic the extreme conditions in space, extraterrestrial planets, under the sea, the desert, or arctic conditions.
The Architect of each team wears a blindfold or vision-impairing safety goggles to mimic the extreme conditions in space, extraterrestrial planets, under the sea, the desert, or arctic conditions.
- The blindfolded or vision-impaired Architect builds a structure by stacking a variety of blocks one on top of the other, directed by other members of an architectural design company.
- A design is projected where the Design Committee from all teams can easily see it but the Architect cannot.
- The Design Committee now verbally instructs their designer to take the right components and construct a structure identical to the illustration.
- The Design Committee assists in turns. The first speaker describes the first piece and how it should be placed, then the next assists in the taking and building with the second piece, and so on, round and round until the structure is built.
- The order in which members of the Design Committee will speak should be decided at the start.
- The Architect to build the structure with best accuracy and precision in the allotted time wins, and the team gets the Building Contract.
THE RACE TO THE SKY VARIANT: "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Faster, Higher, Stronger)
In this variant architecture companies go in sequence in a race against time. It may be used in the Committee, Inspiration, or Extreme Environments game.
- A design is displayed where all players can see it. The Timer starts. Architects and Design Committees fill the roles they would in the Committee, Inspiration, or Extreme Environments game.
- As soon as the first structure is declared complete, the Timer is stopped. The time that the first company used represents the time limit for the second team. They must attempt the same structure in a shorter time.
- The team that builds the structure with accuracy and precision in the shortest time wins the Building Contract.
THE TOWER OF BABEL VARIANT: "The Silent Challenge"
Sketch of archaeological site of the design of a ziggurat near Nasiriyah, Iraq
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by M.C. Escher
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TIE ROUNDS: If neither team succeeds in building the structure within the full time limit, or if both teams built it within the time limit, the Building Contract is not awarded.