Buffalo is a
card game that requires players to think of people or characters who match combinations of descriptions. It was developed by the
Tiltfactor Lab The Tiltfactor Laboratory is a serious game research center located at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Its work is centered on ''critical play'' an approach that uses games and play to investigate and explain ideas. Outcomes from the la ...
oratory as part of the
National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project called "Transforming Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) For Women and Girls: Reworking Stereotypes & Bias." The game was runner-up for Best Digital Game in the 2012 Meaningful Play Awards.
Gameplay
In each round, players race to make matches using cards listing noun and adjective descriptors. The first to shout out the name of a real person or fictional character who matches the descriptors on two or more word cards, claims the matched cards, and flips over a new noun/adjective pair. When the deck runs out, the player who collected the most cards wins. Whenever players are unable to make a match, someone adds another card from both decks to the table.
Research
Initial data suggests that Buffalo reduces
prejudice and encourages greater inclusiveness in players’ representations of
social identity
Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, and/or expressions that characterize a person or group.Compare ''Collins Dictionary of Sociology'', quoted in
In sociology, emphasis is placed on collective identity, in which ...
groups. The research study showed that thinking about stereotypical and nonstereotypical trait pairings increases social identity complexity, a psychological construct linked to tolerance of members outside one's group.
References
{{reflist
External links
*
buffaloTiltfactor
Card games introduced in 2012