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Futurist Jamais Cascio discusses Superstruct
Superstruct is the world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game. What does this mean? As a player of this alternate reality game, you envision your life as it would be in 2019 and collaborate with other players to come up with innovative solutions to global 'superthreats'. These superthreats may bring us to a tipping point that determines whether the human race either solves its looming problems and continues existence, or society collapses under the weight of its troubles. The excellent sci-fi centric io9 has an interview with futurist Jamais Cascio, a member of the Superstruct game design team. Cascio discusses his work on "21st Century Ideas" (essentially a toolkit of solutions to the game's superthreats), the influence of Children of Men on the game and its setting, and some of the innovative creations he's seen from players in the relatively short time since the game launched. It's definitely worth a read if you're interested in a game grounded in futurist speculation. If this piques your interest in Superstruct, don't wait to find out more -- the game will only run for another 5 weeks. Be sure to check out Massively's primer on Superstruct to help you get started, as well as Jane McGonigal's Avant Game blog for more info about the game.
How to play Superstruct
While dealing with these sweeping global issues would seem to be impossibly complex, Superstruct's gameplay -- fortunately-- is not. The game is comprised of a kind of storytelling on the part of its players, based off of the scenarios and updates presented by The Institute for the Future. Some of these scenarios, like the superthreat videos seen earlier, are there to establish the game's backdrop, but more info is on the way. Superstruct players will spin off their own ideas based on both the IFTF-provided scenario updates and (especially) player-generated content. In this respect, the gameplay is quite freeform. Playing the game breaks down to a few easy steps: Join the Superstruct community by registering at the official site. Create your 'future self' through your personal survival profile. Discover the superthreats (via the breaking news videos). Adopt a superthreat. Tell a superthreat story, through whatever medium you choose, via the Tell-a-Story form. Search for allies. Start superstructing on the wikis (sharing your ideas for redesigning the future.) Check out the video below and let one of the game's creators, Jane McGonigal, show you how the game is played, and be sure to note her tips on how to succeed in Superstruct.
