Mutineer: A Language Game for Virtual Learning
If you’re anything like me, student or teacher, virtual learning this year threw you for a loop. Mind you, I consider myself not-too-shabby with integrating technology into lessons, but making the jump from “smart technology is important” to “smart technology is crucial” was tough. How do you teach Romeo and Juliet to freshmen online?
With cardboard puppets that you make at home, but that’s not the point.
To make the most of the virtual format many of us are in right now, I created a word game for my students that I lovingly ripped off from the Among Us craze. If you’re a teacher (or a student who wants their teacher to try it) here are the rules of my own legally distinct creation: Mutineer. (Best for students age 12 and up.)
Starting: Have your class attend the Zoom/Google Meet as normal, but have a way to contact students individually and fast (email, Remind, whatever.)
Rules: 1. Choose a group of students to be our "crew." The crew is a group of students who will answer questions and try to figure out which student among them is working against the group. 8 students is an ideal number All crewmembers should have their cameras off during the game. They can only respond to the class via the chat. 2. One of those students will be a MUTINEER (working against the rest of the crew). Notify this student by Remind/email. ONLY THE MUTINEER SHOULD KNOW THEIR IDENTITY. In addition to being told they are the mutineer, you must give them a rule that they must follow in all responses. For example: the student cannot use a certain letter of the alphabet, or must lie every time they are asked a question. The rule should create a PATTERN for other students to recognize.
3. The Class (every student not on the crew) will take turns asking the crew questions. The class’s goal is to help to the crewmembers spot the pattern and figure out who is the mutineer. ALL crewmates must answer, but the traitor will have to abide by their rule. The class can theorize to try to help the crew and even take guesses. But ultimately, the crew must guess for themselves
4. Every three or so minutes it will be time for an anonymous vote on a Google Meet Poll/Socrative. At the end of the vote, the crewmember with the most votes is “thrown overboard.” In the event of a tie, we'll vote another round. A removed player can no longer respond for the rest of the game, which motivates crew members to prove their innocence and find the real Mutineer. ONLY the crew gets to vote. If they expel the traitor, they win, and the game is over. If they expel an innocent crewmember, then tell the Mutineer to message you (privately, via Remind or email) the name of one other crewmate to be removed. When the Mutineer has made this choice, announce it to the crew. This represents the Mutineer striking in the dead of night and removing a crewmate from the ship. If the crew fails to expel the traitor before the final round (two players remaining,) the traitor wins. If you have a crew of 8, this means that the class has three chances to vote out the Mutineer.
My kids have had a blast guessing coming up with questions, looking for patterns, and accusing one another of mutiny. For the class, it’s a lesson in finding patterns in words and responses. For the mutineer, it’s an exercise in deceit and language skills. Taking a long time to answer is suspicious, so mutineers must quickly come up with responses that don’t give them away completely.
Once I had a student whose rule was “you cannot repeat any word you’ve already used.” They made a list as they played, and had to answer strategically so as not to work themselves into a corner. By choosing carefully, they won the whole game. I don’t know if a single person suspected them.
It’s a fun game, and works well as a reward at the end of a long unit. Give students a goal: if the class can answer X number of questions correctly per day, at the end of the unit, you can play Mutineer. The spirit of competition works wonders, even for some of the quietest students.