Library Murder Mystery

What:  Library Murder Mystery

When:  April 10, 2012

When:  10 PM-Midnight

Where:  Carmichael Library

Once again, we have synergy between the University of Montevallo Game Studies Program (or here for their vibrant Facebook page) and the Carmichael Library!  As it turns out, there's much overlap between the concepts of game theory and the process of seeking and evaluating information.  Fun may be the unifying principle.

Photo designed by JR Burt

We encourage you to join us next week, April 10 and under a shroud of darkness at the Carmichael Library, to delve into a murder mystery.  You'll engage in some fact-finding, information discovery, database navigation, and critical thinking to help resolve (or at least illuminate) one of Montevallo's most notorious murders.  UM's own library faculty and game studies students have designed an experience that will change the way you think about accessing knowledge.

How is a murder mystery event related to game studies?  As I have mentioned in other posts on this blog, gaming imparts many lessons that are valuable for learners.  Games help us accept failure as a normal part of the learning and information-seeking process.  They reward critical thinking and collaboration, and they teach us that an ethic of play is one of the most important aspects of addressing life's challenges.  These benefits have been noted since the early days of game studies scholarship.  For instance, in a 2004 article in Game Studies, Stewart Woods argues that "social simulation" games like murder mysteries have immense potential to facilitate learning in ways that traditional modes of education do not:

Simulations offer the player the opportunity to engage with a dynamic system from an experientialperspective and a significant amount of this direct involvement is provided by the freedom to interact with, and have control over, the simulated system.  Indeed, there is consistent agreement among designers and researchers over the important role of interactivity and control within games as a factor which delineates them from most other media forms. 

In other words, games create an immersive environment in which participants can encounter and process problems with unique focus, dedication, and collaboration.

Of course, this murder mystery would not be a good game, or a good use of game theory, if it did not promise lavish rewards.  There will be prizes, food, and awesome T-shirts available to those who participate.

Reality is Broken, So Come Play Video Games at the Library

Games in the Library: A Gaming Tournament

Thursday, November 17, 2011 7:00 PM
Carmichael Library
University of Montevallo

We live in a broken world. Corporations siphon billions of dollars from the public, taking money and jobs from people who are most needy. Every day, the United States and developing countries like China emit countless tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, escalating our climacteric and imperiling the future of life on this planet. Access to clean water is a crisis that transcends national boundaries; every twenty seconds, a child in the world dies because he or she does not have clean water to drink. Our most respected institutions turn a blind eye to corruption and abuse.

There are a lot of ways we could be spending our time to do something about these problems. Does anyone seriously think that playing video games should rank among these courses of action?

There are some scholars in a rapidly-growing field called Game Studies who suggest that game play can attune learners to the qualities of active engagement in a world of fragmentation and pain. Jane McGonigal, for instance, is among these scholars and says that the 300 billion hours we spend each week playing video games is anything but a waste of time. McGonigal argues that we actually aren't spending enough time playing video games (see her recent TED Talk below). Games, game play, and the study of gaming can unlock new patterns of learning and teach people how to solve real-world problems by cultivating essential skills like decision-making, time management, and collaboration.

Another ambassador for game play as a conduit for learning is Cathy N. Davidson, who argues in her recent book, Now You See It, that "Games are unquestionably the single most important cultural form of the digital age" (146). Davidson points to games as activities that radically improve the skill with which learners can divide attention and move from one task to another (an essential skill in the online world). Yet games don't just make us better learners for the sake of knowledge; rather, games are among the most effective ways that people find out about real social problems and become compelled to take action. According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 97 percent of U.S. teens play some form of video games. Of these, about half of them report that playing games make them think about (or indeed have introduced them to) moral or ethical issues. Just about everyone learns what effective, fervent action in the world looks like by playing video games.



With that reality in mind, the Carmichael Library, in association with the University of Montevallo Game Studies and Design Program, will host an evening of game play on Thursday, November 17, 2011. Inspired by the American Library Association's National Gaming Day @ Your Library, this event will feature circles of board game and video game tournaments. Come experience games that you haven't played before, like Settlers of Catan. There will be food and prizes. You can respond to the Facebook invitation, of you can just show up and play!