Game for Change
Something that has frustrated me over the years is society’s misunderstanding of introversion. There are a lot of generalizations that introverts are just shy, loners, stuck up, anti-social, or worst of all, simply need to get out of their comfort zone. The problem with these stereotypes is that they derive their conclusions entirely from external observations, without examining the internal dialogue. My game, ironically titled “Introversion | a party game”, seeks to provide a sample of that missing conversation.
The player is presented with a series of choices that draw from my own experience as an introvert. The narration explains an introvert’s thought process as they navigate a discomforting social situation. However, through this choose-your-own-adventure narrative style, I didn’t want my introvert to be helpless. Introverts do enjoy social interaction. They like having friends and going to fun events. The difference between them and extroverts is how they receive and expend their mental and emotional energy.
Extroverts are energized by social interaction: the more people present, the more energy there is for them to absorb. But for an introvert, a large amount of people is over-stimulating. Introverts’ brains are wired differently and have different tolerances for neurotransmitters. As a generally introverted person, I enjoy social interactions, but in large groups of people, the endless small talk quickly drains me. On the other hand, I find myself more adept at singly focusing on one task for much greater lengths than my more extroverted friends. It’s a trade-off, of sorts, which I find to be represented well by the NERIS Type Explorer.
I used energy tokens as a simplified version of this concept. Introverts have a limited stamina when it comes to crowded social gatherings, particularly among people they don’t know well. Eventually, they need to withdraw, not because they dislike people, but because they regain their energy in a quieter atmosphere.
The purpose of my game for change is to help extroverts understand how introverts think, and realize why they find get-to-know-you-games and stake dances so unpleasant. It’s not because introverts need to “just get out of their comfort zone”; it’s because their brains chemically experience these situations differently. There are a lot of thoughtful, passionate, introverted people out there who suffer because popular culture is frequently biased against them.
That being said, the issue is multi-faceted, and each personality views the other with some frustration. And because very few people are complete extroverts or introverts 100% of the time, we all share moments where we’ve felt like one or the other. As Chimamanda Adiche discusses in her speech “The Danger of a Single Story”, no one deserves to be stereotyped by a single experience or situation. My hope is merely that my game for change will provide an interactive perspective into introversion that broadens and deepens cultural respect and inclusion for all personality types.
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