One of the first board games I learnt to play was Monopoly. As a kid with a daily allowance of one dollar, the most enjoyable part was handling money and being able to buy/sell stuff. I felt empowered to feed my greed, which is ironic considering how the game was first invented as a protest against big money. I eventually stopped playing Monopoly. I hated it. It takes forever to finish. There’s no skill involved, just blind luck. And once all the good properties are snapped up, you’re just playing to lose.
But what if you could play Monopoly differently? Imagine receiving a Monopoly set, unboxing it, and realising that the rule book is missing. How would you make sense of all the existing components and write your own rules to play Monopoly in a way that would be fun and meaningful to you? Start from a blank slate. You can experiment with Monopoly, or any other game, and see if you can breathe new life into an old board.
We took our own advice and tried this with Smol Tok. Although there are existing rules, and although players are free to play Smol Tok in their own ways, we looked at it with fresh eyes and wondered how we could play/facilitate it another way. With the next booster pack - Pillow Tok - we took the same raw materials, questions on cards, and added different layers of facilitating/learning into it. Pillow Tok can still be played the way you’ve always played Smol Tok, but we’ve nuanced it for singles and couples to use as a tool for relationship-building.
Come experience it in this new way, on a date with yourself, or with someone special. This July, we’ll be facilitating four sessions, over cocktails, at The Warehouse Hotel. Join us in deepening the conversation with yourself or with others - pillows not included!
Photo by Ylanite Koppens