emblem among emblems nick fortugno. emblems city of tamara “your gaze scans the streets as if they...

Emblem Among Emblems

Nick Fortugno

Emblems

City of Tamara

“Your gaze scans the streets as if they were written pages: the city says everything you must think, makes you repeat her discourse, and while you are visiting Tamara you are only recording the names with which she defines herself and all her parts.”

- Calvino, Invisible Cities, p14 (emphasis mine)

Emblems

Marco Polo and Kublai Khan

“But, obscure or obvious as it might be, everything Marco displayed had the power of emblems, which, once seen, cannot be forgotten or confused.”

- Calvino, Invisible Cities, p.22

Live Games

Kill Him and You Will Be Famous

Charades

Hanabi

Materials

Emblem Among Emblems Story

• One player is the Khan; the other is the Merchant.• The Khan is looking for the corruption in the empire, or

the thing missing from it to make it perfect. • The Merchant travels to other places and brings the story

back to the Khan.• The Merchant does not speak the Khan’s language, and so

they can only communicate by pantomime and gesture.• The Khan tries to pick out the new city from the

pantomime, and if the Khan does so, the missing part is known and the game is won.

Emblem Among Emblems Start

• The Khan and Merchant stand before each other.

• The Khan picks three cards from the deck and studies them, trying to remember them.

• The Khan takes an additional card from the deck without looking at it, and mixes it with the three cards until the cards cannot be distinguished.

Emblem Among Emblems - Journey

• The cards are placed around the room facedown.

• The Merchant stands before the Khan and bows.

• The Khan directs the Merchant (without speaking) to visit the cities of the empire.

• The Merchant visits each city and looks at each card once, and then stacks them without looking at them again.

Emblem Among Emblems - Tales

• The Merchant returns to the Khan and bows. The Khan motions the Merchant forward.

• The Merchant places the cards facedown in order in front of the Khan.

• The Merchant bows, and when given permission by the Khan, pantomimes the first card. When finished, the Merchant bows a second time.

• The Merchant repeats the bow, pantomime, and bow for each card. Neither the Khan nor the Merchant can say anything in this process.

Emblem Among Emblems - Solution

• Once the Merchant has bowed the final time, the Khan picks the card that the Khan DID NOT SEE at the beginning of the story.

• If the Khan picks the different card, the Khan has found the missing part of the city, and both the Khan and Merchant win.

• Both the Khan and the Merchant reflect on what the card tells them about the empire and its failings or its future.

Thank YouNick Fortugno

nick@playmatics.comwww.playmatics.com