Taipei Ludographic
Game Design Workshop

Theory, Discussion, and
Example Games Online

I created this variant Glass Bead Game for use with my English as a Foreign Language classes at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. These games don't really resemble The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse, but they do fall in the scope of that broad category of knowledge linking games. Copyright 1997, Brian David Phillips, Ph.D., C.H..

Straight and Narrow:

The board is blank. It's possbile to use a blackboard or scrap of player with different colored chalk or pencils but the game works best with either a beg board and different colored string for each player or if you use a styrofoam sheet or corkboard into which various round-head straight pins may be stuck.

The first player places a peg on the board (or simply draws a circle on the game sheet, writing a key phrase in the circle to represent the idea). The peg represents the first play or idea. The player explains it (in a written game, 500 - 1000 words should be sufficient although some games may allow for longer-windedness). Each new idea placed on the board scores one point.

The players each in turn place their own ideas on the board, explain them, and then explain their connections to as many ideas already on the board - scoring one point for each acceptable link. Use different color pins and threads (chalk or pencils) to represent who placed the ideas and who scored which links. In a written game, the player would need to write out both the explanation of the new idea and a lengthy description of each link - small games would be in the 500 - 1000 word range for each link. The game can get quite complicated as the number of points and links can get rather high. This open-ended linking variation allows for some rather clever play as well as for folks to simply introduce new concepts without linking.

Have players follow one order for the first round and then reverse the order for the second and so on to allow similar scoring opportunities.

Play ends after each person has had a chance to play five or so moves (with a group of twenty players that takes a long time though) or after a set amount of time. Team play varients work well for group discussion games. Smaller groups or fewer teams could have more turns although typically a two-player game would finish after ten rounds.

The Spider's Web:

Another variation that is a bit more advanced is to require that each subsequent play must link with every other idea on the board. This is very difficult when using broad play rules (works better when narrowing the scope to one subject such as discussion of a play or novel but then the number of plays becomes limited). Play ends after a set number of moves or the like or when one player cannot finish the sequence of linking with every other move (that player would take what points he can though and then the other players are given the opportunity to finish the move, if they can complete the links they take their points and play continues as if the passing player had finished the turn - if they cannot finish the sequence then they take what links they can score and play is halted). This variation is well suited for highly competitive individuals.

Story Time:

Play follows the general procedures as the Straight and Narrow variation above except that the first player introduces the starting point through a narrative setup. Following plays introduce new ideas and links through the narrative device by continuing the story. This is a nice variation for folks more interested in how the links go together and what they might mean than simply in flexing muscles related to general trivia knowledge and memory. This is a bit advanced for most folks though.

Regardless of which of these variations are played, Peg Board Glass Bead Games should focus not only on the art of making links between ideas but also of the aesthetic qualities intrinsic in the creation of a pleasing board layout and colored string combination. Obviously, some layouts would be more successful than others - such as a beautiful pentagram or ball or starburst or god's eye or flying swan or whatever - the possible combinations are endless. The success of a game depends not only upon the answers, ideas, and their links and the artistry which with the players weave their ideas together to create an intellectual work of art but also in how they can cooperate and create a physical work of art in the resulting board and it's physical expression of those links. This element of the game is a bit more advanced but aesthetically more pleasing in the end than simple trivia games.

Email Brian David Phillips, Ph.D., C.H. at phillips@nccu.edu.tw.