Stacking Game

Title: Stacking Game

Artist: Roman De Santos

Medium: wood, acrylic, epoxy

Dimensions: Dispenser: L: 1.75’ W: 1.75’ H: 5’ Table: L: 1.5’ W: 1.5’ H: 5’

Problem Statement

Our current democratic system suffers from misrepresentation of the people by our leaders. This issue can be attributed to many factors, including a lack of participation in the system, leaders whose values and actions do not reflect the wills of their constituents, and fear of and distrust in the system. These factors create a cycle, reinforcing the idea that your vote does not elect an official which represents you, so it does not matter whether you participate or not.

Device Goal

Encourage community interaction and invoke questions of fairness through a game which, through encouraging cheating and its discussion, sparks conversation and thinking about themes in democracy such as community engagement, system design, and equitable access.

Design

The goal of this game is to build a triangle using differently sized blocks. A solution should exist at any moment, meaning that the pyramid will not topple over due to mismatched block sizes if played correctly. The dispenser suggests a block but a player is free to decide on a different block even if it looks like an illegal move. A winner is considered as the final block on the very top. The color of the winning block corresponds to the winner.