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Machiavellium

Overview

This project is a collection of cards I designed as a conceptual game that provoked dialogue surrounding the inherent nature of man within the dichotomy of good and evil. Suggestions of animal instincts were paired with the writing of Niccolo Machiavelli on each card. The mechanics of the game were meant to simulate the traits we are born with and the decisions we make that maintain or change who we are. Players could interact with others to "infect and influence" by trading cards, or they could collect/pay currency cards that represented necessary actions to alter certain traits. Desensitize, Karmic Faith, and Self Investigation were paid to acquire or purge traits. The game began with a "birth" hand and ended after each person had no currency or was satisfied with their traits.


 

 

Further Work

This project was an expanded exploration of its predecessor "To Unveil Candor," in which iconic images from history were manipulated to replace men with cuttlefish. This opened dialogue about an unchanging lineage of dishonesty and manipulation, representative through the most deceptive creature on earth: the cuttlefish.