2.0 KiB
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?
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
Materials We'll Use
- Role Cards (your character)
- Cork board or whiteboard
- Tacks (nodes), string (edges), post-its (terms)
- Markers for annotations
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 :)