This week in class, we played the card game Avalon. It is a game where everyone is given a hidden identity at the beginning of the game. Set in a medieval or fantasy setting, players can get characters like Merlin, Percival, or the Assassin to name a few. The goal of the game is for you “team” to win the majority of quests that occur throughout the game. This is all happening in real time where communication, memory, and negotiation is key. I love this game and have played it many times before coming to class. I love trying to solve the mystery of what character everyone is and getting more information periodically throughout the game.

For me, the hardest part of this game is always being a “bad guy”. I can’t lie very well and I don’t like to do it either. My strategy for being a bad guy is to try and create chaos which works about half the time. I was the assassin for the first game and we lost, but I was to guess who Merlin was correctly and win. The real fun for me is being a good guy and using communication to try and figure out who is on your team. Picking quests becomes harder rather than just picking randomly if you’re a bad guy.

This game is excellent for leadership because it forces people to use communication as well as individual goals to be successful. At the start of the game, everyone has a mission and it is up to you to communicate and get your teammates to be on your side. The end goal is for the team to achieve a common goal without entirely knowing who is on your team . In addition, it is important in this game to be able to take risks and to not be stubborn.  I think those are two skills that are important for a leader to have.

I think someone that would really enjoy this game is my friend, Noah. He would love the “puzzle” that is trying to figure everyone out. I think he would also be intrigued with all the special characters and their abilities.