m.u.b.: basic instructions (english version)
this page describes the basic structure of the game / group activity for it to work as a universal machine.
freedom can be taken (is encouraged!) in its actual implementation (e.g. the areas in the space can overlap, the shapes can be made out of other materials, the cards don't have to be cards, the way of getting and reading the state rules can be changed, etc)
elements of the game
the space
divide the space in four different areas:
blocks area
contains spare blocks of wood, used to build shapes
shapes area
contains a row of shapes, and a single ring around one of them. the ring indicates the active shape.
cards area
contains 23 stacks of cards. each stack contains:
- one activity card, that suggests movement for the group
- six state cards with the same state number
open area
space for movement
the shapes
there are six types of shapes. they need from one to three blocks to be constructed.
text representation of the six shapes: ▯ ◫ v x * ▽
(in unicode: u+25af, u+25eb, u+0076, u+0078, u+002a, u+25bd)
the cards
state cards
there are 23 groups of 6 cards (138 cards in total)
each group has the same state number, written using maya numerals.
each group contains a card for each of the six possible active shapes.
each card has five fields:
- current state number
- active shape
- new state number
- new shape
- direction of ring movement (left or right)
these fields can be read in the following way:
when the group is in {current state number}, and the ring is around {active shape}, transform that shape into {new shape}, move the ring one shape to the {direction of ring movement}, and call for a change of state to {new state number}.
activity cards
the activity cards contain evocative words to suggest movement for the group.
setting the game
setting the cards
randomly choose 23 activity cards, and pair each of them with a group of state cards
arrange them in the cards area
setting the shapes
arrange the initial row of shapes according to a given or constructed machine description
here are some possible initial rows:
- ▯ ◫ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ * ▽ ▯ ▯ * ▯ ▯ ▯ ◫ ▯ ▽ ▯ (count)
- ▯ ◫ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ * ▽ ▯ ▯ * ▯ ▯ ◫ ▯ ▯ * ◫ ▯ ▯ ◫ ▯ ▽ ▯ (alternated count)
setting the ring
the ring should always start in the first * at the right of the leftmost ▽. that shape becomes the first active shape.
setting the state
the participants take the first stack of cards.
playing the game
the game consists in repeating the following process (ideally, until the halting "state" 𝋠 is found)
- the group dances according to the current activity card
- the group finds the state card that correspond to the current active shape (the shape where the ring is), and follows it:
- transform the active shape if indicated, taking or returning blocks of wood if needed
- move the ring to the left or to the right as indicated
- call for a change of state if indicated:
- look for the stack of cards that corresponds to the new state
- return the current stack of cards to their original position
- take new stack of cards