# Polycentricity

A governance roleplaying game

## What is it?

**_Polycentric_** is a structured roleplaying game that simulates the complexity of collaborative governance. Players take on unique roles (e.g. farmer, co-op, policy advocate) and must negotiate agreements with others by exchanging obligations and benefits.

Instead of “winning,” the aim is to practice creative problem-solving and reflect on real-world governance challenges:

- How do coalitions form?
- What’s fair?
- What breaks trust?
- What creates shared value?

## Core Concepts

### Actors:

You play as a stakeholder with values, goals, constraints, and assets.

**Agreements:** Formalized exchanges between actors. These can be bilateral (asymmetric) or multilateral (symmetric).

**Obligations**: What you commit to do.

**Benefits:** What you get in return.

**Board of Agreements:** Visually maps actors ⇄ agreements with string and post-it connections.

## Game Flow (110 minutes total)

### Setup (20 min)

- Intro + rules overview (Z)
- Scenario overview (D)
- Role cards distributed (V)
- Explanation of board and materials (V)

### Free Play (60 min)

- Players discuss their roles in relation to the scenario
- Negotiate creatively within your character's values and constraints
- Form agreements with other players and connect them on the board

### Debrief (30 min)

- Walk through the agreement network
- Reflect: What worked? What was hard? What patterns emerged?

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### What We 'll Learn

- How values and constraints shape negotiations
- How governance models emerge from interaction
- How complexity can be visualized and navigated
- How collaboration requires trust, creativity, and compromise

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### Materials We'll Use

- Role Cards (your character)
- Cork board or whiteboard
- Tacks (nodes), string (edges), post-its (terms)
- Markers for annotations

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### Facilitator's Role

- Set tone: This is about learning, not winning.
- Keep players engaged and reflective.
- Help document agreements on the board.
- Prompt discussion, not decisions.

Let’s play agreements :)