DEVLOG 1 - Concept

Game Log 1: Concept

Game Title: Viral Spiral Team Name: Team 6  Team Members:

• Tim
• Floor
• Beyza
• Sophie

Development Log: Devlog 1: Concept

How would you describe your game? Viral Spiral is a strategy and social deduction game where players take on the role of influencers. The main goal of the game is to decide whether to share, report, or ignore news articles. Players need to maintain their reputation by sharing only truthful news and stopping fake news from spreading. If too many fake news stories are shared, they get cancelled, and the whole group loses. It’s both an educational and fun way to raise awareness of media literacy, misinformation, and the impact that influencers and social media have on the spread of news. Players need to make quick decisions based on the truthfulness of the information they are given, testing their ability to think critically while navigating the complexities of media today.

What decisions have been made so far in regards to:

• Engagement of the game with the selected theme: The theme of Viral Spiral focuses on misinformation and its consequences in modern society, especially through social media. It’s important that players understand the power and responsibility of sharing information. By forcing players to assess news and decide whether to share or not, the game mirrors real-world challenges in dealing with fake news. The goal is to spark critical thinking about how easy it is for news to spread, both true and false, and what the potential impact could be. This theme is not just relevant but extremely important in today’s media environment.
• Engagement of the game with EU values: The game aligns with the EU values of democracy, freedom of expression, and access to reliable information. One of the EU’s key priorities is combating misinformation, and this game serves as a tool for educating players on how misinformation spreads and the consequences of sharing it. By including mechanics like reputation points and collective consequences for spreading false information, the game emphasizes the need for accountability and responsible information-sharing. It encourages players to reflect on how fake news can harm individuals and societies, which ties into the EU's efforts to promote media literacy and democratic participation.
• Inspiration from the museum and kick-off: We were inspired by a game focused on media manipulation and fake news and how this influences us. Seeing how media has been used as a tool for propaganda made us think about the power of news in shaping societies and the potential dangers of misinformation. This sparked the idea for Viral Spiral. The museum experience also showcased interactive ways of engaging with media, which helped us think about how to make our game both educational and engaging. We wanted players to be able to make decisions just as real-world media consumers and influencers do, and use those decisions to reflect on the importance of truth in media.

How did you come to these decisions? The decision to center the game on misinformation and media literacy came from the growing relevance of these issues in today's society. As social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram continue to influence public opinion, the need to educate people about how to evaluate and share news is more urgent than ever. By making the game interactive and challenging, we wanted players to experience the dilemma of dealing with news they might encounter online. Through brainstorming, we recognized that a game like this could help players understand the importance of fact-checking and being responsible consumers of information. The decision to incorporate a reputation system and a spiraal effect was made to visually represent the consequences of spreading fake news and encourage critical thinking.

Share any pictures from your game design process. 

What are your action points for the upcoming day?

• Finalize the design for the spiral board and game components.
• Create and test the first batch of news cards (including both true and fake news).
• Adjust the game mechanics based on player feedback

This is what our end game looks like.

The board

The news cards

The players

The Joker cards

3 type of action cards for playing the game.

Booster cards that are played on certain spots on the board.