When are we?
When are we? is a storytelling game about time. Timing, rhythm and our habits of thinking about time shape how we see problems and make sense of the world. This table-top game uses the story of Little Red Riding Hood to invite players to explore the timings of a familiar story and play with how changing these timings changes the story.
To date the game has been played at the 2024 Possibility Studies conference, by members of the British Academy The Times of a Just Transition programme, academics working with critical time theory in water environments, The UK Environment Agency, individuals interested in game design and tools for dialogue, and by folk who are curious about time and futures.
Some things people have said about the game:
“It generates unique insights that couldn’t be generated with another method.”
“These tools hold the temporal aspects of the story … I don’t really think I’ve seen anything else that does that so comprehensively.”
“It opened my mind to thinking about problems in a new way.”
How do you play?
When are we? is a game for 4–6 players. We haven’t tested it with children, but we think it would be suitable for age 11+.
To play the When are we? game players take the role of different human and non-human actors in the story of Little Red Riding Hood and use bespoke visual time cards to explore the interconnected and relational times and rhythms in the story. Players have the challenge of responding to temporal changes prompted by rolling one of three magic ‘time dice’.
Collaboratively, players negotiate and imagine alternative possibilities. The principles of the game can be applied to other stories, situations and processes of change.
How it works
The idea for the When are we? game came out of exploratory research carried out by the University of Bristol in partnership with Defra. Through engaging with teams working in water environments a range of tools were developed to offer reflection and dialogue about individual habits of thinking with time, those of others, and to collectively explore how processes and events are shaped by the ways time is coordinated.
The research identified a key challenge: how can people working with different challenges and in very different situations come together to explore and engage with the possibilities of time? The game was developed to address this challenge. Once familiar with the principles of the game, its components can be adapted to specific contexts to explore how social practices of temporal coordination are determining decisions and shaping action in the transition to a more just and sustainable future.
The time cards
The game revolves around a set of bespoke visual cards. The cards carry a range of different abstract graphic illustrations that were developed in response to a series of conversations with people working with different challenges within river and water environments.
Stories of the seeping movement of pollutants over decades, the mis-match of timing of funding in response to local issues, the interweaving timelines of different players in the transition to healthy rivers that work at different speeds; these stories prompted visual responses developed into a visual grammar using line, texture, pattern and shape.
The visualisations began in the context of rivers but they offer a way of expressing the sensation of time for many different players in many different situations.
FAQs
Can I buy the game?
The game is not currently for sale, but you can borrow it. We have eight boxes of the game available to lend (a bit like a library). This way, we can offer more people an opportunity to try out the game. We are interested in hearing about how the game is used and people’s experiences of playing. This is a prototype.
Who is the game aimed at?
The game can be played by anyone who is curious about time and enjoys stories. Our work has been motivated by supporting dialogues among groups working in sustainability and with the transition to a more just and sustainable future.
How many players?
Each game is designed for 4–6 players. Larger groups can play with multiple games. We lend up to three boxes at a time, so a group of 18 people can play. To support this activity we provide a facilitators set of slides to guide groups through the game together.
How long does it take to play?
This is up to you. We have tested playing the game in just under an hour, but most groups have needed one and a half hours to really explore the ideas. It could take longer and we recommend one of the players is a timekeeper for the game to suit your situation.
How do I apply the principles of the game to the context I am working in?
The game is is designed to surface the different ways we can work with time and how this can impact processes of change and outcomes. The componants of the game can be used in a different context by players agreeing the situation they want to explore, identifying the key actors in that situation and then playing the game to explore the temporal stories of those actors. We are developing a guide to talk you through these steps; it will be added to the resources below soon.
Do I need anything else to play?
A nice big table. The game involves exploring and using a set of illustrated cards. It helps to have space to lay these out and move them around easily.
Is it possible to download or play online?
No, the game is designed to be played face-to-face.
Borrow the game
Borrow the game
The game is a prototype, therefore we have a limited number available to lend. We are currently only able to ship within the UK.
You can borrow a game for up to six weeks. If you would like to run a bigger session, you can borrow up to three games at a time. Games are for 4–6 players.
There is a charge of £10 for a single game, £15 for multiple; this cost covers return postage and packaging and allows us to restock the boxes in the future.
Please use the inquiry form below to ask about availability. We will get back in touch to confirm and provide the details for ordering.
We are happy to answer any questions you have.
Facilitators slides for running a workshop with multiple games
Click to download a PPT file which includes a series of slides that help you guide multiple groups of players through the game. This is useful if you would like groups to play to a similar timeframe and share the different outcomes each group of players explore.
Guide to applying the game to different contexts.
Coming soon!
Developed by Keri Facer and Harriet Hand, When are we? is one of a range of resources and activities designed to cultivate the temporal imagination.
When are we? has been developed through a research partnership with Philip Tovey, Head of Futures at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Our thanks to the the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership and the Environment Agency for their cupport and collaboration during the development of the resource.
Supported by University of Bristol, Economic & Social Research Council and the British Academy.
About the project
When are we? has been produced as part of the British Academy programme The Times of a Just Transition.
This programme brings together scholars from six continents and 14 disciplines to transform our understanding of the role of time and timing in producing justice and injustice in sustainability transitions.
Working in highly diverse local sustainability struggles relating to land, cities, identities and the imagination - we explore how temporal frames and narratives are being (mis)used to define climate problems and solutions, how timing mechanisms prioritise, coordinate and exclude different actors and ways of life, how different rhythms of life are being aligned or alienated, and how uses of time as a form of invisible power are structuring the possibilities for justice for communities in the Global South and marginalised North.
Increased awareness and understanding of these timing mechanisms will expand our political and civic capacities to detect sources of misalignment and miscommunication, lay new foundations for dialogue across difference, and open-up the possibility of a pluriversal politics.
