Small-group Game Dynamics

I'm planning my Geography Ambassador sessions for Monday. Getting a bunch of year 9/11/12s excited about geography just by talking is trickier than you think - as I found out on my first visit. So this time I'm opting for an interactive activity that has little chance of floundering, and might actually get people excited.

I know of only one game that fits the bill and is plausible in small groups: Bananagrams. In case you've never heard of it, it's a light version of Scrabble that doesn't need a board, has very simple rules, and doesn't require immense stretches of waiting. Oh and everyone makes their own crossword simultaneously. (I feel honour-bound to mention here that the game had existed under different names long before the current version was marketed.) Simply put, it's an elegantly structured game that despite lacking "traditional" reward mechanisms and player interaction, never fails to engage and entertain.

Now how to use the same principles in a geography-related activity? I've attempted to (after going 3 days on about 9 hours of sleep due to other matters) strip it down to the bare bones, in hopes of remodelling them into some thing useful. Thus...

In order to stimulate the Bananagrams mode of play, players need:

1. Unpredictable input - in the form of scrambled letter tiles
2. Independent play - each player makes their own crossword
2. Choice within structure - here structure = crossword
3. Self-imposed time limits - determined by a) the shortest length of time needed to complete each crossword, and b) the number of tiles available.

It doesn't sound much of an interactive game any more, does it? A forage into the murky waters of game theory and group dynamics is much needed, but I've already used up my quota of consecutive sanity today.

Now I'm thinking case studies and career aspirations and geoggy jargon and diamond 9 exercises and index cards...and this is so exciting!