Inhuman condition: A critical play (CS247G)

Inhuman condition (online version)

by Tommy Maranges, Cory O’Brien

Target Audience

General Public (12+) who has in-depth knowledge of the physical version.

Formal Elements

Inhuman condition is a 5-minute, 1-v-1, outwitting, forbidden act game. It emphasizes the conflict between the interviewer and the suspect. The interviewer is trying to determine whether the suspect is a human or robot via tasks and questions, while the suspect is trying to do one of the following roles. If they are randomly assigned to be a human, they just act normally. If they are a robot, they are given a list of forbidden acts that they must follow.

Fun

This game thrives on creating the sensation of tension, due to the uncertainty. Being a social game, it also creates (or maybe destroys) fellowship.

Moments & suggestions

As I have stated earlier, this online version assumes familiarity with the paper version of the game, It does not provide any instructions or hints to players who are new to the game, such as myself. In my playthrough, we spent most of the time being confused by the user interface. For example:

The suspect thought it was okay to tell me they were human due to the phrase “You have nothing to hide” in the white box. I think the phrasing should have been “Human. Keep information this to your self and act normally”

The most frustrating part was the penalty system, which I suspect is made to create more challenge in the game. However, the game simply gave us this screen with no context.

I think this online version should have links to the rule book and have a menu that displays more detailed instructions for new players, such as which information to withhold.