The Game of Humanity is an online board game that traces the path of Humanity from the Beginning of Time to the Here and Now. It leads us down the same path as the 100 billion humans who came before us. It reminds us how our forebears propelled our species from humble hunter-gatherers to Rulers of the Planet in just 70,000 years. And it engages us in challenges that demonstrate how our fundamental Human Nature binds us together and keeps us apart.
…the Tribe is all-important. The interplay of cooperation and competition within and among tribes of humans is one of the key ingredients in our incredible success as a species. (It also explains much of our in-fighting.)
You’ll travel the path through human history as the leader of a Tribe of Peeps. As you move toward the present, you’ll have many chances to add Peeps to your Tribe — especially if you can strike the right balance of cooperation and competition with other Tribes you encounter along the way. At the same time, the path is not without hazards, such as wars and disease, that can decimate your Tribe in a moment.
Kudos to those Tribe leaders who reach the Here and Now with a diverse and large (but not too large) group of Peeps. They’re doing their part to ensure Humanity’s continued march through Time.
Students of game theory will recognize adaptations of “social games” such as Prisoner’s Dilemma, Tragedy of the Commons, Public Goods, Ultimatum, and Dictator. These and other exercises appear in numerous “Human Nature Challenges” scattered throughout the game. They bring to light aspects of our nature that influence how we compete and cooperate with each other. And they can offer insights into how humans came to be who, what, where, and how we are today.
The Game of Humanity is for one to four Homo sapiens ages 12 to 200,000.