Your concept is coming along nicely. As you explained in this post, the most important element is the learning that comes from playing the game. Is your plan to give informational flash cards after someone plays a rigged game? How are you going to transmit the facts and less heard narrative (as opposed to the dominant one) to your game players? Again, the “they say” “we say” dichotomy is strong and to the point, so be sure to emphasize them in the games, with solid stories, examples, and/or data. For example, after playing one of the game, the play could be given a card. On one side of the card could be the story of a single person, and that person’s experience would be reflective of the game player’s experience. On the other side of the card could be data or facts or more aggregated trends to put the phenomenon into a larger context.

You had mentioned having a game with a positive outcome to incentivize good behavior. It would be interesting to compare how a rigged game that one always loses versus a an incentivized game where one could win affects the player’s learning. I wonder which would be more effective in teaching the player about the realities of the housing market and crisis. Or maybe it’s not about effectiveness, but the type of message. This is something to explore in your focus groups.

One of the things that works nicely about the carnival game idea is that it fits well with City Life’s current media strategy, which includes the sword and shield, large paper mache characters, and lots of other tangible items (flyers for organizers, etc.). This may be something you want to explain in your presentation to show how it fits with the organization’s media personality.

I know I suggested thinking about a digital game, but I also don’t want to detract your energies away from the carnival games if that is your main focus. Maybe there are other portions of the project/carnival you could “think digitally” about and not necessarily build out a whole new digital game. The comment about digital thinking was more to make your project accessible to people who weren’t in front of a carnival game in real time.

Who will be the participants in your focus groups? How will you ensure a diverse audience that includes people who believe the dominant narrative? What are your methods for evaluating the carnival games once the focus groups plays and interacts with them?

Let me know if you have any questions!

Your project reminds me a bit of this: http://blakefallconroy.com/18.html