Insert something improvised here…
Hoi,
So this is where I reflect a little on improvisational games.
I’ve a few friends who do theatre sports and Thank God You’re Here is one of my favourite shows. What is it about improv games that makes them so fun. Personally I think it’s more than just self expression. There’s the aesthetic that the conversation must seem normal, in character, and witty. The participants are put on the spot in that there is a time limit to answer before the words that come out seem incoherent and break the conversation. I think dynamics like this are what really make the improv games fun. But to answer the question regarding how 3 rules of improv relate to self expression games, here they are:
1. Be fun to play with – Well of course it needs to be fun to play with. Most games, not just games of self expression, will make this a high priority if not the top. (Ignores those who make games for art and for money)
2. Serve the narrative – This relates to part of the illusion of being able to make the conversation seamless. This involves creating something that is true to the fantasy of the game e.g. creating a creature in Spore Creatures rather than a machine etc. However, I feel at times that this rule can be broken. More often than not, people like to go against the grain and come up with something completely unrelated. This can work, but only in small amounts. If there’s too much randomness, then the narrative is lost and it seems there is no longer any sort of skill involved.
3. Make your partner look good – I assume this therefore means that you are working with more than one person. Generally I would find it is hard to make your partner to look bad, mainly because the only way it would make them look bad is A) you outperform them in every way B) You gave them an easy line to continue the conversation which they couldn’t continue. I would initially think you make your partner look bad by giving them a difficult question to respond to, but audiences seem to love it, especially when the partner meets up to the challenge. I can’t think of too many self-expression games that are supposed to make partners look good/bad, but I would generally think that players would want to make their team mates look good generally because it results in a higher success rate than other teams.
Signing off
