The Well: A Story of Water, Oil, and Tyrants

This post is going to be different from what I usually write. I wanted to write about a sort of “social experiment” I did as a project for my AP Environmental Science class, and some of the interesting (or more funny) things I took from it.

For context; our class had an end-of-the-year assignment where we could select from a wide variety of tasks; from a simple essay or presentation to the more involved, such as creating an activity for the class. Around this time, I had been getting into board game design, so I figured something more “game-like” could help engage the class and be a little more interesting than a powerpoint.

The end result was a game I called “The Well.” While I’m not going to go over every single aspect of the game, here are the basics:

-The game is set in the aftermath of a complete environmental collapse. Resources are scarce, and the players represent a group of survivors that have come across a large well full of freshwater. Their task is to scavenge resources, build up the town, and most importantly, ration their water supplies.

-There were 7 different roles players could be assigned at the start of the game.
-Farmers: One farmer needed to be alive and hydrated for the game to keep going, but farmers consume twice as much water.
-Builders: Used Scrap to work on Building Projects to allow the town to have an easier time surviving, such as Dew Catchers, Irrigation Systems, or Solar Panels.
-Politician: One player who decides who can and cannot receive a water ration at the end of a round. They can be replaced.
-Drillers: Drilled for oil, which could be used to help the town but had a chance of polluting the water supply when drilling.
-Scientists: Researched technology to allow Builders to construct more advanced Building Projects.
-Scholar: Players who could choose to swap to any other role, should that group lose players.
-Scavengers: Drew from a deck of cards to determine what resources the town gained at the beginning of a round.

With this now explained, here’s what actually happened during the game.

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The game began with 28 players, with each Role having their own set of desks so they could sit and discuss what they’d want to do with their day. Once people settled in and I explained the basics, the class decided to name their town Trumpville (again, it was high school), and the game began.

Things began relatively well (no pun intended). Scavengers were regularly finding decent amounts of water, and the first Politician player had no reason for anyone to go without water, and so things went well for the first couple of rounds.

Then one round, the scavengers only brought back one water ration.

The “Scavenge Deck” was a limited number of cards, some representing water, scrap, or other resources, but there was a sizeable amount of cards that represented finding nothing on one’s trip. However, it’s important to note that this deck was finite, and it was made clear that once it was depleted, it wasn’t getting reshuffled.

Once this happened, the first politician voluntarily relinquished her role to another player (The one who recommended the town’s tasteful title). This player was far less forgiving than his predecessor, and his first order of business was to demand that every Driller begin drilling for oil, so that the town could try to get some larger building projects going. The Drillers, before this turn of events, steered away from drilling since they were aware of the risk to the town’s water supply. However, the politician stated that those who denied his orders would be denied a water ration.

Thankfully, each player succeeded in extracting oil without polluting the water. However, one could sense the tension among the players (at least the ones who were paying attention. Again, high school).

The scavengers were getting better luck with their trips, the Builders had finished construction of Dew Catchers, an improved oil well, and had also invested scrap into digging the well deeper (a mechanic which would grant an immediate boost in water rations in exchange for scrap, but had diminishing returns with each use). Despite the slightly more despotic leader, things seemed to remain stable.

Then the drillers dug too deep, and a quarter of the town’s water supply was contaminated.

The politician player, while not as kind as the first, knew what he was doing. He devised a system where only one Farmer player would receive their water rations (only one Farmer was required for the game to continue), and players could also volunteer to give up a day’s water for more voting power the next time a decision needed to be voted on.

While a few players objected to this system, the politician banished them, and nobody stood up to try and challenge the politician’s power.

The population had dropped from 28 to 18. Discussion periods were eerily quiet. Players who were once talkative and actively discussed things with their groups were now silent as the Politician moved around the room and examined his subjects.

Then, at long last, the Scavenge Deck was depleted.

The Builders had little Scrap to continue their projects, Drillers refused to drill further, believing the risk of polluting their already meager water supply too great for what little rewards they could receive.

Finally, someone spoke up, and a vote was cast. The second Politician player was banished to the wasteland with nothing but the clothes on his back (The third politician was really, really into the game, and asked me to include that detail).

However, this third politician had even darker plans for the future of Trumpsville.

Instead of denying players their water rations, he would simply banish a certain number of players every round, to lengthen the lifespan of the town’s finite water supplies. The first to go were the scientists, who were all banished after the rest of the group tried to overthrow the third politician for banishing one of their own. The next to go would be the Builders, since the politician deemed them useless since Scrap was now extremely difficult to come by. The Drillers began to drill again, this time avoiding decreasing the town’s water supply.

However, things were growing more and more grim.

After a third and final ‘Well Improvement,” the town’s Scrap supply was depleted.

While the Dew Catchers brought in a little water, it would prove fruitless, and after denying the Farmers their water rations and not being challenged, the town of Trumpsville finally fell into ruin, its brief history of tyrants and desperation left to rust.

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Never promised you a happy ending, did I?

Now, this project was definitely one of the most fun things I’ve done for a grade, but if I had a chance to do it again I’d definitely make a few changes. That being said, it makes for an interesting story (especially if told as if it were an actual post-apocalypse), and I’ve been told by some of the participants that they had fun, and beyond my grade, that was my main goal.

Thank you for giving this little tidbit a read! If you enjoyed it, leave a like, and I may continue to develop The Well in the future. Who knows, if enough interest is garnered, I may host a game!

See you next time,

-Chris