CalArts Writing Program alumni James Pianka launches a new narrative-driven, educational tabletop game for ages 12+, Roots.

Roots is a game of inventing words. Players combine Prefix and Suffix cards to create new words, competing for the best connection to a Subject card. Whoever delivers the best explanation for their word captures that Subject card, gaining a potential piece of their secret Win condition. But stay sharp: players can manipulate each other’s progress with various Power cards, undermining opponents while advancing themselves. The result is narrative warfare in which the most creative, best spoken, and craftiest thrive.

We asked James if his time in the Writing Program at CalArts influenced the trajectory of this project…

“I actually designed Roots at CalArts – at least its prototype, anyway – for the Integrated Media concentration of my MFA. It lacked a win condition when I presented it to the faculty, even after a year of playtesting with friends and game design peers, because I wanted to hinge games on oral argumentation – as noodly and loose as speech is to legislate. Quantative systems are ubiquitous in games for their objectivity, but every kind we tried eclipsed the narrative that made the game worth playing. At a certain proximity to the end, players would just abandon aesthetic concerns for political strategy – and by necessity: voting for some submissions, despite visible brilliance, equated to throwing games. It was broken. Three or so months of dedicated design at Predicate balanced storytelling with competition. Quantity didn’t disappear, but we scrambled it, hiding a bunch of information from players and introducing new interactivity to add variance. The game’s core mechanic hefted the emphasis it always deserved, and nothing kicked its shins. It’s great to be in touch with CalArts about Roots as a piece, since games were just entering the conversation on campus. Animators, art & tech students, and writers in my year convened over the form, supported by faculty like Tom Leeser, Janice Lee, and Hillary Kapan. I hope the non-linearity that player choice provides continues to inspire ambitious thinkers.”

Find out more about Roots at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/predicate/roots-a-game-of-inventing-words .