Monthly Archives: October 2024

Ladies & Gentlemen

In class, we played Ladies & Gentlemen, and I chose to be a gentleman (I brought a fake mustache and everything). The concept of the game was different for the ladies and gentlemen. For the gentlemen, our goal was to earn enough money to purchase lovely items for our wives/the ladies. The ladies role was to purchase as many items and servants as possible so that they can have the best outfit for the ball.

I think the hardest part about the game was roleplaying as a 1850’s British man. It was hard to stay in character, mostly because I have no clue how people acted during that time (I just generalized what I’ve seen in movies). Plus, I am not a man. Another hard part of the game was to keep things secretive from your partner. Because of this hidden element, I didn’t know what my partner needed. I tried to buy whatever they gave me, but there were times when money was low.

This game relates to leadership because it is about understanding different perspectives. Although I only played as a gentleman, I think the goal of the game is to see what it is like to be both the gentleman and lady. By acting like a female and male in the victorian era, we can start to understand their behaviors, feelings, and beliefs a little better. Although not a perfect interpretation, by trying to understand we can find new ways to problem solve and work together with those who are different from us.

Decorum

This week we played decorum, a game about cooperation with interior designing. It was a very fun game. I played with one other person, and we worked together to find the right balance for our rooms. We managed to go through 6 rounds; each round was a set of requirements we each had to fill (and our requirements were different from each other). It was difficult at first because we were trying to navigate how to play, but steadily we got the hang of it.

The most difficult part of the game was when we had to interpret and memorize our requirements. As we move on to each round, the requirements get harder and harder. Stuff like “rooms with warm colors can only have objects with cool colors”. Which sounds easy, but oftentimes you can miss it because you are juggling it with other similar requirements. We messed up two rounds because a requirement was not fulfilled when we thought it was (oops). But even so, we had a lot of fun reading out scenarios and discussing what we liked or hated. I’d say it was a success.

As far as leadership skills, I think this game requires a lot of communication, and management skills. You are trying to juggle a lot of requirements at once, without missing any, and you are trying to communicate with your partner what you need. This kinda showcases how different people with different goals can find compromise while still finding ways to fit their needs. It was very interesting. This game also requires an open-mind because what you need in a certain room may not fit your partner’s requirements. You have to be able to find different ways to meet your needs.