Misinformator - A (Card) Game of Fake News

Find out who spreads fake news!

Justice Equality and MisinformationPlayEducationCommunication

Digital mockup showing the packaging of the card game. White square box with graphics on it.

Misinformation is a phenomenon that exists and multiplies among us, deliberately used to manipulate and target audiences. Misinformator aims to raise awareness on the chaos caused by misinformation, so that people can recognise the issue. Utilising our group’s creative skills, we decided to create an outcome that is both imaginative but also based on research.

Our project response was to create an interactive game that will demonstrate the process of spreading misinformation. By playing the game we intend for the participant to learn how to identify the spreader and the fake news, as typically society is quick to believe irrational/rational fake news without careful reasoning. The game will demonstrate how fast and destructive the spread of misinformation is and how difficult it is to identify fake news from real news. The aim of the players is to identify who the spreader - 'misinformator’ is. This will provide important tools to identify fake news in real life, such as ones found on social media, in newspapers, news articles, etc. Our target audience are people aged 12+, as our intention for the game is to educate people about misinformation and this is the age where they usually start to become exposed to misinformation, especially online.

Creating the game required us to think in a new and innovative way and come up with mechanics, rules, and visual design elements that were both engaging and effective. Through the process we developed problem-solving skills and overcame various design challenges, such as balancing game mechanics, designing cards that are easy to understand, and making sure the game is enjoyable for players aged 12+. In addition to that we were able to experiment with design mediums and techniques, such as illustration, typography, and layout design while building professional teamwork and collaboration skills and developing personal communication and collaboration skills. The project also allowed us to develop outside of the creative sphere as it involved communication and social interaction as well as learning about a wide range of new and engaging topics, such as history, science, and culture.

We hope you enjoy!

Dimitar Spasov

Digital Direction (MA) 1YR

Sara Osman

Sculpture (MA) 1YR

Lingjie Wang

Jewellery and Metal (MA) 1YR

Yiremiye Yilixiati

Innovation Design Engineering (MA)

Ganrui Tan

Leo John Caligan

Shir Shapira

This is 'Misinformator'! – Welcome to 'Misinformator' - a card game of fake news! The game Misinformator allows its players to identify who is spreading misinformation by building resilience and following their own judgement. The game involves passing on informationbetween your teammates. If the informationis successfully passed on through all the players, they win. However, there will be one player who will be chosen to spread misinformation and sabotage the game. The civilians must catch the Misinformator!

Mockup with two cards. Top has a mysterious figure and text saying 'Misinformator'. Bottom - a smiling one saying 'Civilian'.

Let's begin! Character Cards. – All the players must pick a character from the pack of Character Cards. You will either be a Civilian or the Misinformator. You must keep this secret from the other players! Each player will then roll a dice to determine the order of the players. The player who rolled the highest number will start and the next players will play in descending order. If the same number is rolled, roll again!

Mockup image showing four cards in three different colours - red, orange and green. The top one shows a fact.

Set it up! Information Cards. – The Information Cards will be separated into three decks - Green, Orange, and Red. The colour indicates the level of difficulty. The first player will roll a coloured dice, and whichever colour it lands on will indicatewhich Information Card they must pick.

A mockup image showing the 'Misinformator' instructions leaflet.

Play! Instructions Leaflet 01. – The first player will quietly pass on the information to the second player by whispering in their ear, then the second player will pass it on to the third player, and so on. The Misinformator’s job is to purposely alter the information when they pass it onto the next player. They can choose not to alter the information, however they can only do this for one round. After the first round, the last player will announce what information was passed onto them.

A close up image showing the design of the 'Misinformator' instructions leaflet.

Play! Instructions Leaflet 02. – The first person must not share the Information Card with the other players. The players will discuss for 2 minutes. The Misinformator must bluff their way through the interrogation and the Civilians must work together to try to spot the Misinformator. After the discussion, the players must vote for who they think the Misinformator is. If the players vote out the Misinformator the game is over, if they don’t the game continues. The game will continue until the Misinformator is found, or they mislead all.

The game continues. Find out who is the 'Misinformator'! – The players will keep their character cards and re-roll the dice so that their order will change in each round. The one with the highest rolled number will roll the coloured dice, and pick a new information card. Once all the players hear the new information, they will have a discussion for 2 minutes and vote again. The game will continue until: The Civilians win by voting out the Misinformator in one of the rounds, or the Misinformator wins by passing all the rounds without getting voted out.

Misinformator - A (Card) Game of Fake News

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Royal College of Art