¶ BORGLY: A collaborative global survival game. · 15 March 2020
[Keeping track of isolation, interactions and uncertain status of untested people is going to be complicated and difficult, but necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19. A tracking application would help, but even a simple set of rules would be better than nothing. Here is an attempt to formulate what they would be, in the style of a collaborative game.]
BORGLY: A collaborative global survival game.
Players
Everyone.
Summary
BORGLY is a collaborative global survival game played with colors (Black Orange Red Green Lavender Yellow, thus the name) and numbers. Not only can everybody play, but even people who do not think they are playing are part of the game. It's literally a game for everybody. In this game we are all the Borg. We are all inextricably linked by our actions. And a virus.
The Colors
- Yellow: no symptoms, infection status unknown
- Green: uninfected
- Orange: contact or symptoms but untested
- Red: tested positive
- Lavender: recovered
- Black: dead
Starting the Game
All players begin the game with the color Yellow, and the score 0.
Ending the Game
The game ends when all players are any combination of Green, Black and Lavender at once. The primary goal is to reach this point in the shortest time, with the fewest players at Black. The secondary goal is to reach it with the fewest at Lavender.
Playing the Game
The game is played in real-time. All players are active at all times, there are no turns. You play by isolating and/or failing to isolate.
Isolating
Isolating is defined as:
- not coming within 6 feet of any human who is not either at Green or in your Cluster
- not doing so indirectly by exposure to objects or surfaces
Isolating for 24 hours scores points (see Scoring, below).
Contact
The failure to Isolate is Contact. Contact thus occurs whenever you come within 6 feet of another human, directly or indirectly via objects or surfaces. Any contact with a player at Red or Orange changes your color to Orange, resets your score to 0, and removes you from your cluster. See Clusters for the rules for contact between players at Green and Yellow. Contact between players who are all at Green has no scoring effect. Contact with a player at Lavender has no color or score effect.
Experiencing Symptoms
Any player who experiences virus symptoms, including fever and shortness of breath, has their score reset to 0 and their color to Orange, and the same with all members of their cluster, which is also immediately dissolved.
Testing
Any player at Green or Yellow who undergoes initial COVID-19 testing and tests positive has their score reset to 0 and their color to Red, and all members of their cluster have their scores reset to 0 and their colors to Orange. If a player at Yellow tests negative, their score is reset to 0 and their color to Green. A player at Orange goes to Red if they test positive, and stays at Orange if they test negative. A player at Red who recovers to no longer experience symptoms, and gets retested negative, goes to Lavender.
Death
Any player who dies during the game has their color changed to Black, and is removed from play. This is what we are playing to avoid. Note that this applies to all deaths, whether from COVID-19 itself or not, so people who die because they could not get healthcare from a hospital overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients count.
Clusters
Each player at Green or Yellow has a Cluster of players, which begins as just themselves. Clusters may be of any size, but see Cluster Checks, below, for the significance of cluster size. Any time two or more players contact who are at any combination of Green and Yellow, and not already all in the same cluster, they must choose one of two actions:
- Merge all of their clusters. Merging immediately resets the scores of all cluster members to the lowest score of any of the members who were at Yellow, and all colors to Yellow.
- Remove themselves from all of their clusters, reset their own colors to Yellow and score to 0.
Contact between players at Green, or cluster members, has no effect on scoring.
Cluster Checks
Every 24 hours, all members of a cluster must report their colors and scores to all other members of the cluster, including any merges caused by any members' non-cluster contact (any combination of collective and pairwise methods is allowed, but remember the Contact rules above). If any cluster member fails to report, the cluster is dissolved and all members are reset to Yellow 0. If any of the cluster members report that their scores have been reset by contact, they are removed from the cluster. If any member has had their color changed by symptoms, positive testing or death, all members are changed to Orange 0 and the cluster is dissolved. Members who remain in the cluster at the end of the check score 1 point. Remember that this is a collaborative game, not a competitive one.
Scoring
- Players at Green score 1 point by isolating (and thus staying Green) for 24 hours.
- Players at Yellow can score only through a combination of isolating for 24 hours and Cluster Checks (see above). Those who score 14 points go to Green.
- Players at Orange can score only by isolating for 24 hours without symptoms. Those who score 14 points go to Green.
- Players at Red accumulate points but can only have their color changed by testing.
- Players at Black or Lavender no longer accumulate points.
Replay
If any players reveal, realize or discover contact that was missed during earlier play, all rules are replayed from that point, including cluster merges and removals. Any Cluster Checks for clusters that change during replay must be reperformed.
Strategy
There are three strategies.
- Normal Routine: In this strategy, there is no Isolating, lots of Contact, and thus lots of Lavender and Black. Since these are the colors we are playing to avoid, this is a bad strategy.
- Passively Isolating: In this strategy you don't go to crowded events that have been canceled anyway, and you don't hang out with friends that aren't hanging out with their friends, but otherwise you do whatever is still possible, and don't really pay attention to your contacts or their states. This prolongs the game for everybody who is trying to play, and thus increases the amount of Lavender and Black, and is thus also a bad strategy.
- Isolating for Real: In this strategy, everybody isolates as much as possible, keeps their clusters as small as possible, and monitors their clusters daily. This is the only way to win.
Player Guide
You begin the game at Yellow, with a score of 0.
Yellow (no symptoms, infection status unknown)
- Score 1 point by restricting contact to your cluster for 24 hours and completing a cluster check.
- On non-cluster Green/Yellow contact you must either
- > Merge clusters and reset all cluster members' scores to 0 and colors to Yellow.
- > Remove yourself from your cluster and reset your score to 0.
- Contact with Orange or Red resets your score to 0 and color to Orange, and removes you from your cluster.
- Failing or missing a cluster check resets your score to 0.
- Experiencing Symptoms resets your score to 0 and color to Orange, along with those of all players in your cluster, and the cluster is dissolved.
- A negative test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Green.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and color to Red, along with those of all players in your cluster, and the cluster is dissolved.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
- Scoring 14 points resets your score to 0 and your color to Green, and dissolves your cluster.
Green (uninfected)
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours. There's no inherent value to this in the current edition of the game, but future editions might require more than 14 points to reach Green.
- On Yellow contact you must join the cluster of the player at Yellow, and set your score to theirs.
- Contact with Orange or Red resets your score to 0 and color to Orange.
- Experiencing Symptoms resets your score to 0 and color to Orange.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Red.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
Orange (contact or symptoms but untested)
- You can't score points or change colors as long as you have symptoms, so all you can do is isolate in order to not turn anybody else to Orange.
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours without symptoms.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Red.
- If you have no symptoms, a negative test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Green.
- If you have symptoms, a negative test does not change your color. You're still sick with something.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
- Scoring 14 points resets your score to 0 and your color to Green.
Red (tested positive)
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours.
- Recovering and testing negative changes your color to Lavender.
- Dying changes your color to Black.
Lavender (recovered)
- No personal actions to take, but you may help and advise other players.
Black (dead)
- No personal actions to take.
BORGLY: A collaborative global survival game.
Players
Everyone.
Summary
BORGLY is a collaborative global survival game played with colors (Black Orange Red Green Lavender Yellow, thus the name) and numbers. Not only can everybody play, but even people who do not think they are playing are part of the game. It's literally a game for everybody. In this game we are all the Borg. We are all inextricably linked by our actions. And a virus.
The Colors
- Yellow: no symptoms, infection status unknown
- Green: uninfected
- Orange: contact or symptoms but untested
- Red: tested positive
- Lavender: recovered
- Black: dead
Starting the Game
All players begin the game with the color Yellow, and the score 0.
Ending the Game
The game ends when all players are any combination of Green, Black and Lavender at once. The primary goal is to reach this point in the shortest time, with the fewest players at Black. The secondary goal is to reach it with the fewest at Lavender.
Playing the Game
The game is played in real-time. All players are active at all times, there are no turns. You play by isolating and/or failing to isolate.
Isolating
Isolating is defined as:
- not coming within 6 feet of any human who is not either at Green or in your Cluster
- not doing so indirectly by exposure to objects or surfaces
Isolating for 24 hours scores points (see Scoring, below).
Contact
The failure to Isolate is Contact. Contact thus occurs whenever you come within 6 feet of another human, directly or indirectly via objects or surfaces. Any contact with a player at Red or Orange changes your color to Orange, resets your score to 0, and removes you from your cluster. See Clusters for the rules for contact between players at Green and Yellow. Contact between players who are all at Green has no scoring effect. Contact with a player at Lavender has no color or score effect.
Experiencing Symptoms
Any player who experiences virus symptoms, including fever and shortness of breath, has their score reset to 0 and their color to Orange, and the same with all members of their cluster, which is also immediately dissolved.
Testing
Any player at Green or Yellow who undergoes initial COVID-19 testing and tests positive has their score reset to 0 and their color to Red, and all members of their cluster have their scores reset to 0 and their colors to Orange. If a player at Yellow tests negative, their score is reset to 0 and their color to Green. A player at Orange goes to Red if they test positive, and stays at Orange if they test negative. A player at Red who recovers to no longer experience symptoms, and gets retested negative, goes to Lavender.
Death
Any player who dies during the game has their color changed to Black, and is removed from play. This is what we are playing to avoid. Note that this applies to all deaths, whether from COVID-19 itself or not, so people who die because they could not get healthcare from a hospital overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients count.
Clusters
Each player at Green or Yellow has a Cluster of players, which begins as just themselves. Clusters may be of any size, but see Cluster Checks, below, for the significance of cluster size. Any time two or more players contact who are at any combination of Green and Yellow, and not already all in the same cluster, they must choose one of two actions:
- Merge all of their clusters. Merging immediately resets the scores of all cluster members to the lowest score of any of the members who were at Yellow, and all colors to Yellow.
- Remove themselves from all of their clusters, reset their own colors to Yellow and score to 0.
Contact between players at Green, or cluster members, has no effect on scoring.
Cluster Checks
Every 24 hours, all members of a cluster must report their colors and scores to all other members of the cluster, including any merges caused by any members' non-cluster contact (any combination of collective and pairwise methods is allowed, but remember the Contact rules above). If any cluster member fails to report, the cluster is dissolved and all members are reset to Yellow 0. If any of the cluster members report that their scores have been reset by contact, they are removed from the cluster. If any member has had their color changed by symptoms, positive testing or death, all members are changed to Orange 0 and the cluster is dissolved. Members who remain in the cluster at the end of the check score 1 point. Remember that this is a collaborative game, not a competitive one.
Scoring
- Players at Green score 1 point by isolating (and thus staying Green) for 24 hours.
- Players at Yellow can score only through a combination of isolating for 24 hours and Cluster Checks (see above). Those who score 14 points go to Green.
- Players at Orange can score only by isolating for 24 hours without symptoms. Those who score 14 points go to Green.
- Players at Red accumulate points but can only have their color changed by testing.
- Players at Black or Lavender no longer accumulate points.
Replay
If any players reveal, realize or discover contact that was missed during earlier play, all rules are replayed from that point, including cluster merges and removals. Any Cluster Checks for clusters that change during replay must be reperformed.
Strategy
There are three strategies.
- Normal Routine: In this strategy, there is no Isolating, lots of Contact, and thus lots of Lavender and Black. Since these are the colors we are playing to avoid, this is a bad strategy.
- Passively Isolating: In this strategy you don't go to crowded events that have been canceled anyway, and you don't hang out with friends that aren't hanging out with their friends, but otherwise you do whatever is still possible, and don't really pay attention to your contacts or their states. This prolongs the game for everybody who is trying to play, and thus increases the amount of Lavender and Black, and is thus also a bad strategy.
- Isolating for Real: In this strategy, everybody isolates as much as possible, keeps their clusters as small as possible, and monitors their clusters daily. This is the only way to win.
Player Guide
You begin the game at Yellow, with a score of 0.
Yellow (no symptoms, infection status unknown)
- Score 1 point by restricting contact to your cluster for 24 hours and completing a cluster check.
- On non-cluster Green/Yellow contact you must either
- > Merge clusters and reset all cluster members' scores to 0 and colors to Yellow.
- > Remove yourself from your cluster and reset your score to 0.
- Contact with Orange or Red resets your score to 0 and color to Orange, and removes you from your cluster.
- Failing or missing a cluster check resets your score to 0.
- Experiencing Symptoms resets your score to 0 and color to Orange, along with those of all players in your cluster, and the cluster is dissolved.
- A negative test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Green.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and color to Red, along with those of all players in your cluster, and the cluster is dissolved.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
- Scoring 14 points resets your score to 0 and your color to Green, and dissolves your cluster.
Green (uninfected)
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours. There's no inherent value to this in the current edition of the game, but future editions might require more than 14 points to reach Green.
- On Yellow contact you must join the cluster of the player at Yellow, and set your score to theirs.
- Contact with Orange or Red resets your score to 0 and color to Orange.
- Experiencing Symptoms resets your score to 0 and color to Orange.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Red.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
Orange (contact or symptoms but untested)
- You can't score points or change colors as long as you have symptoms, so all you can do is isolate in order to not turn anybody else to Orange.
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours without symptoms.
- A positive test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Red.
- If you have no symptoms, a negative test resets your score to 0 and changes your color to Green.
- If you have symptoms, a negative test does not change your color. You're still sick with something.
- Dying (for any reason) changes your color to Black.
- Scoring 14 points resets your score to 0 and your color to Green.
Red (tested positive)
- Score 1 point by isolating for 24 hours.
- Recovering and testing negative changes your color to Lavender.
- Dying changes your color to Black.
Lavender (recovered)
- No personal actions to take, but you may help and advise other players.
Black (dead)
- No personal actions to take.