Meeting you where you are – Tabletop games with Coney

Posted on July 26th, 2019

Coney play games with lots of people, for lots of different reasons, but always with the hope of making small bits of change across the world. We’re a charity – so 80% of our things were accessed for free last year, to spread our messages as far and wide as possible and so everyone who wants to, can play.

However, at the moment there’s a rare chance to buy a Coney game to take home with you. To play on your own table top, and share with others, making change where you are. What’s more, its going to be designed by the Young Coneys, whose imaginations are bonkers and brilliant. They teach us a million things about the world, and we think you’ll love what they create too.

The success of A Game of Legacy in 2017 put 99 games in people’s houses, and this year we’re doing the same! And some more examples of our other games are below.

Buy the new game, THE NEWS: a card game by the Young Coneys – or buy a personalised version of the game as a gift, before the Kickstarter ends on 31 July. And take a little bit of change home with you.

Let’s Talk About Climate Change

Commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council in partnership with the Natural History Museum as part of How We Save The World, Let’s Talk About Climate Change is a card game about communicating the climate crisis.

Using two sets of cards, the game is designed to spark better conversations between a group of three or more players, with plenty of fun along the way. Here’s how it works, in a nutshell:

• One player is cast as the Dismisser, and plays their first card, which contains a dismissal commonly used in conversations about climate change.
• Then each player takes turns to play a card relating to a tactic that could be used to change the Dismissers mind, and makes an argument based on that card.
• After everyone is heard, the Dismisser chooses a winner – based on anything from the most compelling argument, to the most dramatic delivery!

I absolutely loved the game, so great because it was such a good way to get people talking about the chaos we have caused and also hear different people’s opinions on it. Loved it!

  – Caroline Roberts, Researcher, King’s College London

Temperature Check

Temperature Check was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust. The game was originally designed for teams of young climate activists from around the world, invited to the Wellcome Collection to explore the relationship between global climate change and planetary health, and to discover strategies for moving forward.

The game makes a complex system playable, using cards to represent different factors and events, along with instructions and discussion in the room. Players form teams representing the local governments of imaginary cities, building strategies to work together and hold onto hope.

A Game of Legacy

Last but certainly not least is A Game of Legacy, a Coney project made for and by Jedi master of play Bernie DeKoven as he neared the end of his life.

The game is a physical and digital experience, to be played at home by a group of 6-8 people. A parcel arrives in the post, and using Coney’s playful technology, Bernie and Tassos guide players through the game via a screen. An exploration of what it means to pass onto posterity, the game was created in 2017 thanks to crowd-funding from a generous group of backers with a limited second wave released in 2018.

Find out more about THE NEWS, and how you can own a copy, here.