DIGITAL Afro-Rithms
Afro-Rithms playtest workshop with Collective Futures and Speculative Futures LA, Sept. 30, 2020.
Developed by AfroFuturist Podcast co-creators Lonny J. Avi Brooks and Ahmed Best and game designer Eli Kosminsky, the game Afro-Rithms from the Future provides players with the tools to imagine and create a foundation for more equitable futures.
This year has seen the Afro-Rithms team pivot to creating a digital version of the game, incorporating past card designs and content to produce an accessible and collaborative gameplay. As in the game’s analog counterpart, players are dealt three different card types that help shape the universe created:
Tension Cards name values, belief systems, and phenomena that can exist on a continuum in society. Think: more or less “Ecotopia,” more or less “Black Storytelling,” more or less “Magic.” Two tension cards will form the parameters or axes of a world that we’re going to build.
Inspiration Cards look at different concepts and aspects of the contemporary world — for instance, “Queer Liberation” or “Biotechnology” — to serve as the foundation to inspire our imagined futures.
Object Cards describe the basic form of an item or institution from the future. How might “Fashion” or “Transportation” look in ten or a hundred years? Object Cards are paired with Inspiration Cards to generate ideas for Artifacts that populate the world described by our Tensions.
Card design iterations from Afro-Rithms lead designer Paula Te based on artwork by Alan Clark.
In this virtual space, we’ve had the pleasure of joining futurist organizations including Collective Futures, Institute for the Future, and the Association of Professional Futurists to facilitate virtual gameplay that has been met with strong positive feedback.
Virtual game board exploring the objects and inspirations used to describe the world.
The Afro-Rithms team is hard at work bringing this dynamic and engaging tool to communities. However, this work cannot be done without your support and feedback! We hope you will join us for future playtests and contribute your ideas for how the game can model and advance more equitable futures.