Fancy a game of Monopoly?

Hi hi,
What an easy day! Just 1 Geog tutorial playing a game and that's it. :) Hee. Teachers need to have some fun too! The timing is great because everyone is bogged down by assignments in the last lap of this semester. And this is one of those rare occasions we get to experience something before we get to deliver it in class (if we ever have the chance to do so). And ah, we see another side of our tutorial mates. :) These teachers are not cut out for the money making world!

At our end

Our group started to gather forces because we were the very small land owners, with the majority of us having 1 ha per farmer. So pathetic, hor? We wanted to form a monopoly with the rest of the farmers but the snobbish big land owners refused to buy that. This is so real! :) They saw the small landowners as parasites. But then a monopoly would mean we have more power over the urbanites since we have what they need while whatever they have, we can choose not to need. Of course the game would be up if this happened and that won't be useful. It was a good thing they did that.

The wisest move our farmers' union made was to get immunisation from taxes, because that was exactly what was killing us off. We were pretty rich at first, but those suckers ... hee, pls pardon my language. I suppose the other union didn't think of this?

And the babies! Arghh... What a burden they were! But I think this is one of the most realistic component of this game. We have population issues, development issues and food issues all rolled in one. If only infanticide is allowed ... hee... sorry... just kidding.

The traders and the G.O. were working very hard. The thing was, we were so paranoid after KF sold us the first warehouse at 100 bucks. So, we bargained for lots of stuff from him but kept putting off the deal and the payment. That must have cost him his losses. And we have our very good negotiator with us - Lily! :)

And oh, the sight of banker YP carrying the entire money bag with her was so funny. [Got a pict of her with her money bag.] She was asking to be robbed, I think. Just that it was not how the game should be played.

Ok, tat's all for the report from our side. It would be fun to hear what went on over the other side of the wall. :) And of course knowing the inital prices of all the stuff from the industrialists. We would probably be cursing after that. :)

Some very raw thoughts

I am very amazed that such a complicated game can be played by secondary school students. The instructions are already so complicated. I think the way this particular game was done is more suitable for JC level. Politics, economics, psychology etc are all involved. So cheem! Or are we the ones making it cheem? Sometimes, children can really achieve more than what we think them capable. Not too sure if it does apply here, though.

And I am going to log down some very raw thoughts on this game which needs further reflecting upon later this year (no time now lah). These are some ideas that floated into my brain haphazardly and are therefore very disorganized. I apologize if I sound too critical on the game we have just played. But without playing that game, these other inspirations would not have come into my life.

I was thinking that maybe some alterations here and there to simplify it would probably make it better for secondary school students taking Geog. For example, we can just focus on the agri realm, giving each farmer bigger lands, some with quite a lot more money and some with less. Then they can have children. Then comes land fragmentation. Then comes Green Revolution. Then we can see how the smaller farmers get themselves on a downward spiral and slowly get displaced, while those richer farmers have everything to gain from it. If need be, add in devious landowners from whom some farmers rent their land. Then a small agri bank for farmers to take a loan to buy stuff to improve their yields. Then give farmers the ability to buy the land from the landowners.

I really would not want to make it so obvious that doom is awaiting the small landowners right at the beginning. Although I do understand the rationale behind skewing the game against farmers, must doom be the only fate for them so as to get our students to learn? It is so depressing, I think. Would not encouraging them to put up a fight for their own improvement be better? And if winners must be found, assess them based on the value added of all they finally have from what they originally start off with.

Ah, will catch up on this again a few weeks down the road. Any programmers out there who wants to develop the original game into a strategy pc game where players can choose their own roles? I will be the first buyer. Games like Lemonade Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Civilisation, even Sim City are cool! Now, maybe Rice Tycoon? :)


SW