ground-game/history/260730-InitialExploration.md

Where it started

I want to create a board- or cardgame inspired by and explaining the darvo tactic and a positive set of handling interactions from a self secure perspective. The game mechanism is about handling conflicts and problems which in turn affects not only outcomes but relations that in turn shape how future conflicts and problems can be adressed from a conflicting or partnering perspective.

Core concept

A strong formulation would be:

Hold the Frame is a semi-cooperative card game about confronting problems while protecting reality, agency, dignity, and relationships. Players may pursue accountability and repair—or gain short-term advantage by redirecting blame, attacking credibility, and capturing the narrative. Every interaction changes not only the immediate outcome, but the conditions under which the next conflict will occur.

DARVO—Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender—is particularly suitable as a game mechanism because it is sequential: the original issue is denied, attention shifts toward the confronter’s character or conduct, and the accused party eventually claims the morally protected position. Research suggests that this can influence observers’ judgments, reduce the perceived credibility of the person raising the issue, and increase self-blame. Importantly for your concept, prior education about DARVO appears to reduce some of that effect. (Taylor & Francis Online)

The game should therefore do more than teach players to identify three cards. It should teach them to maintain orientation while the interaction tries to move them away from the original problem.

The three layers of play

The central design principle should be to keep three things mechanically separate:

1. The problem

What happened? What agreement, boundary, expectation, or responsibility is at issue?

This layer contains:

• the original event;
• available evidence;
• uncertainty;
• consequences;
• possible remedies.

2. The interaction

How do the parties respond when the problem is raised?

Responses might include:

• acknowledgement;
• clarification;
• defensiveness;
• minimisation;
• accountability;
• personal attack;
• counteraccusation;
• repair;
• withdrawal;
• DARVO.

3. The relationship

What does this interaction teach each party about future interactions?

The relationship may become:

• more trusting and cooperative;
• superficially peaceful but fragile;
• guarded and transactional;
• openly adversarial;
• unsafe or no longer viable.

This separation is essential because a skilful rhetorical move must not automatically determine what actually happened. Recognising DARVO is not itself proof of the underlying accusation; it is evidence about how accountability is being handled. The game should train players to notice the interaction pattern without replacing fact-finding with labelling.

Recommended game structure

I would make this a scenario-driven, semi-cooperative card game for two to five players, with a solo learning mode.

The group is collectively trying to:

1. understand the problem;
2. preserve each participant’s agency;
3. reach an appropriate outcome;
4. prevent the relationship system from becoming destructive.

Individual characters also have private pressures such as:

• protecting reputation;
• avoiding immediate cost;
• maintaining belonging;
• preserving authority;
• receiving acknowledgement;
• obtaining a specific practical result.

This creates the necessary tension. Healthy conflict handling is not always the easiest move, while manipulative responses may produce a genuine short-term advantage.

That is important: DARVO should sometimes “work” within the encounter. Otherwise, the game merely moralises. Its cost should frequently appear later through damaged trust, reduced cooperation, witnesses becoming sceptical, unresolved issues returning, or the relationship becoming incapable of addressing problems directly.

The main game tracks

I suggest four primary tracks rather than a single victory-point score.

Track	Meaning	When it falls
Clarity	How well the group can still see the original issue	distraction, contradiction, narrative flooding
Agency	Whether participants can think, choose and act for themselves	intimidation, shame, coercion, confusion
Trust	Expectation that difficult issues can be raised honestly	denial, retaliation, broken promises
Safety	Whether continued direct engagement remains appropriate	threats, humiliation, repeated boundary violations

A fifth value, Resolution, belongs to the current problem rather than the relationship.

This allows several legitimate outcomes:

• the problem is resolved and the relationship strengthens;
• the problem is resolved but trust deteriorates;
• the parties disagree but establish a workable boundary;
• the issue remains unresolved and outside support is required;
• the relationship ends, but agency and safety are preserved;
• the interaction is captured by manipulation and the original issue disappears.

The game should not imply that saving every relationship is the best result.

DARVO as a combination mechanism

DARVO can operate as a three-card sequence played by the scenario system, a non-player antagonist, or occasionally by players facing strong defensive incentives.

Deny

Examples:

• “That never happened.”
• “You misunderstood.”
• “You are exaggerating.”
• “It was only a joke.”

Mechanical effect:

• removes or obscures an Issue token;
• introduces Doubt;
• forces the confronter to spend resources re-establishing the starting point.

Attack

Examples:

• “You are too sensitive.”
• “Everyone knows you are difficult.”
• “How dare you accuse me?”
• “You are the one causing problems.”

Mechanical effect:

• moves attention from conduct to character;
• inflicts Stress or Shame;
• reduces the target’s available hand or action capacity;
• invites observers to evaluate personality instead of evidence.

Reverse

Examples:

• “I am the one being attacked here.”
• “This accusation is abusive.”
• “You are trying to destroy my reputation.”
• “I need protection from you.”

Mechanical effect:

• attempts to transfer the Victim or Protected Position marker;
• redirects observer sympathy;
• forces the confronter to defend their legitimacy before the original issue can be discussed.

If all three resolve without interruption, the player or system achieves Frame Capture:

The confrontation is no longer about the original action. It is now about whether the person raising it was entitled to do so.

Frame Capture can give the defensive party an immediate benefit: avoidance of accountability, reputation protection, or control of the outcome. But it creates Breach tokens in the relationship.

The positive mechanism: GROUND

The response system should not be framed as “defeating the manipulator.” It should teach self-secure conduct: remaining anchored, protecting choice, refusing false frames, and selecting an appropriate level of engagement.

A useful card family and mnemonic could be GROUND:

G — Ground yourself

Reduce emotional overload before choosing a response.

Example card:

“I am going to slow this conversation down.”

Mechanical effect: restore Agency or prevent Stress from forcing an automatic reaction.

R — Restate the issue

Keep the original concern visible.

“The issue I raised was that the agreement was changed without telling me.”

Mechanical effect: pin an Issue token so it cannot be removed by distraction.

O — Observe and separate

Distinguish facts, interpretations, counterclaims, and attacks.

“Your concern about my behaviour is a separate issue. We can address it after this one.”

Mechanical effect: move a countercomplaint onto a separate unresolved-issue slot rather than allowing it to replace the present topic.

U — Uphold a boundary

Define the conditions under which engagement can continue.

“I will discuss what happened, but I will not continue while I am being insulted.”

Mechanical effect: block Attack cards or increase the cost of repeating them.

N — Name the required next step

Ask for something concrete.

“I need acknowledgement, correction of the record, and an agreement about what happens next.”

Mechanical effect: convert vague conflict into one or more Repair Conditions.

D — Decide the level of engagement

Continue, pause, involve a witness, escalate formally, or leave.

“We are not resolving this directly. I am moving the matter to a documented process.”

Mechanical effect: preserve Agency and Safety even when Resolution or Trust cannot be preserved.

These cards should work independently. A player should not need to complete the entire acronym like a combo. Self-security is adaptive rather than formulaic.

Relationship memory

The most distinctive part of your idea can be implemented through a Relationship Memory deck created during play.

After each conflict, the interaction generates memory cards.

Constructive memories

• “They listened when challenged.”
• “We survived a serious disagreement.”
• “A promise of repair was kept.”
• “My boundary was respected.”
• “We asked for help before things escalated.”

These become Bonds, Precedents, or Repair Memories. In future conflicts they make clarification cheaper, allow cards to be played openly, or grant additional time before escalation.

Destructive memories

• “Raising concerns leads to retaliation.”
• “Evidence is routinely denied.”
• “Private information was weaponised.”
• “Apologies are followed by repetition.”
• “Observers joined the attack.”
• “The original issue was never addressed.”

These become Breach, Guard, or Scar cards. They cause future conflicts to begin with lower trust, fewer open actions, additional documentation requirements, or automatic Witness tokens.

This models a powerful relational truth:

Every conflict is also a negotiation over how future conflicts will be possible.

Relationship states

Rather than treating Trust as merely a number, thresholds could move the relationship into qualitatively different states.

Partnering

Players may reveal intentions, share resources and repair misunderstandings cheaply.

Strained

Some cards are played face down. Clarification requires effort, but repair remains readily possible.

Guarded

Documentation, witnesses and explicit agreements become important. Informal promises have little mechanical value.

Adversarial

Each side anticipates strategic conduct. Cooperative actions are possible but costly and fragile.

Unsafe

Direct resolution is no longer the expected route. The appropriate actions are boundary, support, formal process, distance or exit.

A repaired relationship should not instantly return from Unsafe to Partnering. Trust can recover, but only through repeated, observable behaviour.

Example round

The scenario is:

Alex publicly commits the team to a deadline without consulting Sam. Sam works through the weekend to prevent failure and later raises the issue.

The original Issue card contains:

• Action: commitment made without consultation;
• Impact: unplanned work and loss of autonomy;
• Possible repair: acknowledgement, workload correction, future consultation rule.

The response system plays:

1. Deny: “I never said you had to work all weekend.”
2. Attack: “You always turn ordinary work pressure into drama.”
3. Reverse: “I am trying to keep this project alive, and now I am being punished for showing leadership.”

Sam could respond with:

• Restate: “The issue is not whether you explicitly ordered weekend work. It is that you committed my capacity without consulting me.”
• Separate: “Your concern about how I handle pressure can be discussed separately.”
• Boundary: “I will not accept new commitments attributed to me unless I approve them.”
• Name: “The repair I am requesting is a correction to the team and a consultation rule.”

Alex can then choose among:

• acknowledge and repair;
• clarify a genuine misunderstanding;
• make an insincere concession;
• continue the DARVO sequence;
• pause;
• involve a neutral facilitator.

The result determines both the deadline outcome and the relationship state before the next scenario.

Observers are crucial

DARVO does not operate only between two people. It can recruit managers, friends, family members, colleagues, online audiences or institutions into a credibility contest. Research has specifically examined how DARVO affects third-party perceptions, which makes an observer mechanic especially appropriate. (Taylor & Francis Online)

Observer players should have limited information and cards such as:

• Ask for the original issue.
• Require separate consideration of counterclaims.
• Mistake confidence for credibility.
• Reward apparent calmness.
• Demand immediate reconciliation.
• Preserve evidence.
• Support a pause.
• Join the attack.
• Withhold judgment.
• Establish a fair process.

This teaches that bystanders are not neutral scenery. Their procedural choices can either amplify narrative capture or preserve the possibility of accountable resolution.

Learning progression

The game could have three increasingly sophisticated modes.

1. Recognition mode

The DARVO cards are explicitly labelled Deny, Attack, and Reverse. Players learn the basic pattern.

2. Language mode

Cards contain only realistic statements. Players must identify what function each response is performing.

Some statements should be ambiguous, because not every denial, emotional reaction or countercomplaint constitutes DARVO.

3. Relationship mode

Players manage recurring characters across several scenarios. The emphasis shifts from naming tactics to deciding:

• whether direct dialogue remains useful;
• what kind of repair would be sufficient;
• when documentation or witnesses are needed;
• when the relationship should become more bounded;
• when exit is the self-secure outcome.

Essential safeguards

The game should explicitly state:

• DARVO describes a response pattern, not a clinical diagnosis.
• Identifying the pattern does not establish the underlying facts.
• A legitimate counterclaim must be heard, but it should not erase the original issue.
• Accountability does not require humiliation.
• Calm presentation is not proof of honesty, and emotional distress is not proof of dishonesty.
• Reconciliation is only one possible successful outcome.
• Players may pause or skip scenarios without explanation.
• The game is educational and reflective, not a method for adjudicating real abuse allegations.

Before publication, the scenarios should be reviewed by people with expertise in trauma-informed education, mediation, domestic abuse, organisational conflict and survivor advocacy.

The strongest design identity

The game becomes most original when it is not primarily a game about spotting bad people.

It is a game about control of the shared frame:

• What problem are we discussing?
• Who is allowed to define reality?
• Can concerns be raised without retaliation?
• Can responsibility be accepted without annihilating someone’s identity?
• Can the relationship produce repair?
• When must self-security take priority over partnership?

That makes DARVO the most visible antagonist, but the larger subject is conflict capability and relational evolution. The player does not win merely by saying “That is DARVO.” The player succeeds by remaining grounded enough to preserve facts, agency, boundaries and meaningful choice.

Individual state and tuning

The state of the individual is the forth level of play. It should be influenced by problem, interaction, relationship and the history of the current game. Individual state could be represented by level counters for various characteristics and a possible extension might be different individuals with specific traits that modify how state is influenced by actions and events. I would like to introduce a mechanism about the inner state creating preferences about what a player can do. For example if stress is to high this might trigger an obligation to play DARVO. I like the problem elements. The problem should have hidden elements represented by cards that have not been turned over yet. Only problems that have been uncovered can be solved by playing matching solutions. An interesting mechanism is about personal problems affecting the gameplay or win/loose conditions. Only if someone uncovers a personal problem or someone exposes a personal problem those can be solved. A single player learning mode could introduce a highscore element to compete agains yourself for maximum problem solving scores. I would also want to allow for up to 6 players and have the option of shared goals so that groups and subgroups can align/partner dynamically or be set up as cooperative or conflicted with different scenarios.

Yes. The individual state closes the causal loop:

Problems create pressure. Pressure shapes interactions. Interactions shape relationships. Relationships and accumulated history shape individual state. Individual state then constrains how the next problem can be perceived and handled.

This makes the game less about selecting an objectively best response card and more about maintaining or recovering the capacity to choose well.

1. The four-layer conflict system

Layer	Central question	Main components
Problem	What is actually happening?	Hidden problem cards, evidence, impacts, causes, solutions
Interaction	What are people doing to one another now?	Action, reaction, DARVO, grounding, inquiry and repair cards
Relationship	What do we now expect from one another?	Trust, guardedness, alliances, breaches and precedents
Individual	What can this person currently perceive, tolerate and choose?	State tracks, traits, reflexes, personal problems and goals

The history of the current game is not necessarily a fifth layer. It is the persistence mechanism across all four layers. History accumulates as:

• unresolved problems;
• precedents and breaches;
• individual wounds and growth;
• remembered alliances or betrayals;
• promises made and either kept or broken.

A later conflict therefore never begins from a neutral state.

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2. Individual state

For the initial version, I would use four tracks from 0 to 6.

Stress

Immediate emotional and cognitive load.

High Stress can:

• reduce the number of cards a player may consider;
• make reactive actions cheaper;
• make complex solutions unavailable;
• accelerate defensive reflexes.

Self-Security

The degree to which the person can tolerate criticism, uncertainty, disagreement and imperfection without experiencing them as existential threats.

Low Self-Security makes:

• acknowledgement harder;
• public challenges more threatening;
• blame avoidance more attractive;
• DARVO or other defensive scripts more likely.

Clarity

The ability to distinguish facts, assumptions, feelings, accusations and separate problems.

Low Clarity can:

• obscure hidden problem cards;
• cause players to confuse counterclaims with answers;
• make false solutions appear valid;
• prevent the player from recognising Frame Capture.

Agency

The current capacity to choose against an immediate impulse.

Agency is what lets a player say:

• “I need to pause.”
• “My first reaction is defensive, but I do not have to act on it.”
• “I will accept the short-term cost of acknowledging this.”
• “I am leaving this interaction.”
• “I need outside support.”

This makes Agency one of the game’s most valuable resources. It should be renewable, but not cheaply renewable during intense conflict.

An optional fifth track could be Connection, representing perceived belonging and social support. For the base game, this may instead be represented through relationships and Support tokens.

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3. Behavioural Gravity

The inner state should not merely produce modifiers. It should create a pull toward particular actions.

I suggest calling this mechanism Behavioural Gravity.

Every action card carries one or more behavioural tags:

• Grounded
• Defensive
• Aggressive
• Avoidant
• Appeasing
• Investigative
• Cooperative
• Controlling
• Repairing

A player’s state determines which cards are:

• preferred;
• discounted;
• difficult;
• unavailable;
• temporarily compulsory.

For example:

State	Effect
Low Stress, high Security	Free choice among available actions
Moderate Stress	Reactive actions cost less; reflective actions cost more
High Stress	Player receives an Impulse card
High Stress and low Security	Defensive Reflex may become compulsory
Low Agency	Resisting the reflex requires support or withdrawal
High Clarity	Player can separate multiple simultaneous issues
Low Clarity	Player may address only the most emotionally salient issue

This creates the experience that the “correct” card may still be visible in the player’s hand but psychologically difficult to play.

Compulsory actions without removing agency

Your idea that high Stress may oblige someone to play DARVO is mechanically powerful. I would make one refinement:

Stress should not universally cause DARVO. It should activate the character’s learned Defensive Reflex.

Different characters might have different reflexes:

• DARVO
• Withdrawal
• Appeasement
• Counter-control
• Emotional flooding
• Intellectualisation
• Freezing
• Blaming a third party
• Premature reconciliation

A character with the DARVO Reflex could have the following sequence:

1. Deny
2. Attack
3. Reverse

When the trigger conditions are met, the next card in that sequence enters the player’s Impulse Slot. On their turn, the player must do one of four things:

1. play the Impulse card;
2. spend Agency to resist it;
3. use a Regulation action;
4. accept Support from another player.

This means the game can genuinely compel DARVO without claiming that harmful conduct is biologically inevitable. The obligation represents an activated defensive script.

If the player follows the reflex, they receive an immediate benefit such as:

• reduced Stress;
• protected reputation;
• avoided accountability;
• increased control;
• transferred attention.

But they generate delayed costs:

• Breach tokens;
• lower Clarity;
• unresolved problems;
• increased future guardedness;
• possible Frame Capture;
• reinforcement of the reflex.

Playing DARVO should therefore often feel locally rational but systemically damaging.

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4. Traits and character differences

Characters can modify how their state changes rather than simply giving them stronger powers.

For example:

Status-Sensitive

Public criticism causes additional Stress and loss of Self-Security. Private acknowledgement is easier.

Conflict-Avoidant

Attack cards are less likely, but Boundary and Confrontation cards cost additional Agency.

Reflective

Pause and Ground actions restore more Clarity, but this character acts later in the round.

Protective

Attacks against allies produce additional Stress, but Support actions are stronger.

Hyper-Responsible

The player may solve other people’s problems more easily, but gains Stress whenever a problem remains unresolved.

Secure Base

Starts with higher Self-Security and makes Support more effective. Still vulnerable to betrayal and accumulated history.

Traits should not divide characters into healthy and unhealthy people. Each trait should contain:

• a strength;
• a vulnerability;
• a state trigger;
• a developmental opportunity.

An advanced character could combine three cards:

1. Trait
2. Defensive Reflex
3. Secure Practice

The Secure Practice represents the behaviour the person is learning to access under pressure.

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5. Hidden problem architecture

A problem should not be one card. It should be a small hidden system.

A central Problem Board could contain slots for:

• Surface
• Impact
• Cause
• Constraint
• Personal
• Relational
• Structural
• Root

The scenario begins with only the Surface card visible.

For example:

Surface: A project deadline was missed.

Hidden underneath it might be:

• unclear decision authority;
• concealed capacity problems;
• an unrealistic promise to a customer;
• fear of appearing incompetent;
• a history of punishing bad news;
• conflicting incentives between departments.

Only revealed problem elements can receive Solution cards.

A player cannot simply play “Better Communication” against an unrevealed problem and receive credit. A valid solution must match the revealed problem’s requirements.

For example:

Hidden problem: Punishment of bad news Required solution tags: Safety + Process + Leadership Commitment

Or:

Hidden problem: Unclear authority Required solution tags: Role Clarity + Agreement

This produces two distinct competencies:

1. discovering the problem;
2. solving the problem.

A group can be highly active while solving nothing because it is addressing only the visible symptom.

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6. Uncovering problems

Different actions reveal different types of hidden cards.

Action	Likely discovery
Ask an open question	Impact or personal concern
Review evidence	Cause or factual constraint
Listen without interruption	Personal or relational problem
Compare accounts	Contradiction or missing information
Invite dissent	Suppressed information
Name a pattern	Relational history
Inspect incentives	Structural problem
Self-disclose	Personal problem
Expose	Another person’s personal problem

Some problem cards should contain prerequisites before they can be revealed. A Root Cause might require two Cause cards and one Impact card to be visible first.

Other hidden cards could be false leads. They consume attention but are not necessarily manipulative; real conflict systems contain misunderstandings and plausible but incorrect theories.

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7. Personal problems

Personal problems can be one of the game’s most distinctive mechanisms.

Examples include:

• fear of humiliation;
• need to control the outcome;
• fear of abandonment;
• difficulty admitting uncertainty;
• resentment from an earlier interaction;
• hidden exhaustion;
• loyalty conflict;
• need to be seen as competent;
• unacknowledged dependency;
• guilt about a prior decision.

Each personal problem card can contain five elements:

Hidden influence

What it does while unrevealed.

Public disagreement causes +1 additional Stress.

Shadow preference

What the player is pulled toward.

Prefer actions that preserve status, even when they reduce group Clarity.

Reveal effect

What happens when the problem becomes visible.

Gain one Clarity but lose one Self-Security.

Solution requirements

What must be played or established.

Acknowledgement + Safety + Concrete Support.

Integrated state

What the card becomes after resolution.

Public disagreement no longer causes additional Stress. Gain Agency when acknowledging uncertainty.

Personal problems as hidden goals

A particularly strong mechanism would be to give every personal problem a Shadow Goal and an Integrated Goal.

Before resolution:

Shadow Goal: End the scenario without being publicly blamed.

After resolution:

Integrated Goal: Ensure responsibility is assigned accurately, including your own contribution.

Or:

Shadow Goal: Keep the group together at any cost.

After resolution:

Integrated Goal: Preserve relationships that can support honest boundaries.

This means personal development can change the player’s win condition during the game.

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8. Uncovering versus exposing

You have identified an important distinction.

Uncovering

The personal problem is revealed through:

• self-disclosure;
• careful questioning;
• consent;
• trust;
• supportive observation.

Benefits might include:

• increased Clarity;
• Support tokens;
• lower solution costs;
• improved relationship potential.

Exposing

Another player forces or publicly reveals the personal problem.

This may make the card available for resolution, but it should usually cause:

• additional Stress;
• loss of Self-Security;
• a Breach token;
• greater solution requirements;
• possible alliance changes.

Otherwise, players would be rewarded for aggressively diagnosing and outing one another.

A useful rule would be:

An exposed personal problem may be contained, but it cannot be fully resolved until its owner regains sufficient Agency and accepts the problem as theirs to address.

This preserves the value of exposure in scenarios where hidden conduct must become visible, while preventing the game from teaching that one person can solve another person by publicly identifying their vulnerability.

An Expose action can therefore be:

• necessary;
• abusive;
• accurate but badly handled;
• strategically motivated;
• protective of others;
• all of these at once.

The scenario and subsequent interaction determine its meaning.

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9. Solutions

Solutions should be tagged and compositional rather than highly specific.

Possible solution tags include:

• Evidence
• Acknowledgement
• Restitution
• Boundary
• Clarification
• Safety
• Support
• Process
• Role Clarity
• Consequence
• Time
• Apology
• Behaviour Change
• Outside Review
• Separation
• Forgiveness
• Monitoring

A problem may require several solution tags and sometimes a sequence.

For example:

Repeated broken promise Requires: Acknowledgement + Restitution + Behaviour Change Optional: Monitoring Invalid alone: Apology

This allows the game to distinguish between:

• emotional relief;
• symbolic repair;
• practical correction;
• prevention of recurrence;
• actual resolution.

Some solution cards should solve one problem while worsening another.

For example:

Immediate reassignment solves the delivery risk but may increase resentment and reduce the affected player’s Agency.

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10. Relationships for up to six players

Tracking every possible relationship directionally would produce 30 relationship states in a six-player game. That is possible, but heavy.

A better base system is a sparse relationship web.

Relationships are only created or tracked when they become relevant. A scenario may begin with several pre-existing relationship edges. New edges appear when players:

• support one another;
• attack one another;
• disclose personal information;
• make agreements;
• betray expectations;
• become dependent on one another.

Each active relationship edge can have one of five states:

1. Partnering
2. Open
3. Guarded
4. Adversarial
5. Broken or Unsafe

Memory tokens are added to the edge:

• Supported me
• Kept a promise
• Weaponised disclosure
• Joined the attack
• Accepted accountability
• Abandoned me
• Protected a boundary
• Misrepresented me

In the base game, relationships can be symmetric. An advanced mode can use directional states, allowing Alex to trust Sam while Sam remains guarded toward Alex.

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11. Dynamic alliances and subgroups

Players should align around goals, not simply join permanent teams.

A scenario can provide four classes of goals:

Common goal

Shared by everyone.

Prevent the organisation from losing its largest customer.

Group goal

Shared by a subgroup.

The technical team must avoid accepting an unsafe release.

Role goal

Connected to a player’s function.

The manager must produce a decision before the deadline.

Personal goal

Known only to the individual.

Avoid becoming the sole person blamed for the failure.

Players place Alignment markers on goals during play. A coalition exists whenever several players actively support the same goal.

Coalitions can therefore be:

• temporary;
• issue-specific;
• overlapping;
• unstable;
• sincere;
• opportunistic.

Two players may partner to uncover the cause of a problem while opposing one another over the solution.

A coalition can also create social pressure. When four players align publicly against one player, that isolated player may lose Self-Security even when the coalition is factually correct.

This prevents majority agreement from automatically becoming moral truth.

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12. Simultaneous play

With up to six players, sequential turns could become slow and encourage excessive optimisation.

A simultaneous interaction system would work well:

1. Each player chooses one primary action face down.
2. State obligations are placed visibly in Impulse Slots.
3. Players reveal actions together.
4. Cards resolve by initiative category.
5. Reaction cards may interrupt.

A possible resolution order is:

1. Pause, Ground and Support
2. Observe, Ask and Investigate
3. Disclose and Expose
4. Deny, Attack and Redirect
5. Boundary and Escalation
6. Solution and Repair
7. Exit or Separation

Simultaneous selection creates uncertainty about:

• who will support whom;
• whether someone will acknowledge or attack;
• whether a coalition will hold;
• whether another player will expose a hidden issue;
• whether the group will investigate or prematurely solve.

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13. Round structure

A complete round could use five phases.

1. Pressure

Reveal an Event card and apply:

• state changes;
• deadlines;
• social pressure;
• new hidden problems;
• scenario consequences.

2. Inner Pull

Each player checks:

• Stress;
• Self-Security;
• active personal problems;
• traits;
• Defensive Reflex.

Required Impulse cards are placed.

3. Interaction

Players select and reveal their actions. DARVO, support, investigation, disclosure and boundary actions resolve.

4. Problem Work

New problem cards may be uncovered. Players may attach matching Solution cards to visible problems.

5. Memory

Update:

• individual states;
• relationship edges;
• alignment markers;
• unresolved-problem effects;
• promises and precedents;
• scenario clock.

This creates the main loop:

Pressure → Inner Pull → Interaction → Problem Work → Memory

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14. Victory and loss

A single win condition would undermine the game’s multidimensional premise.

The end state should be evaluated across at least four dimensions:

Dimension	Question
Outcome	Was the shared or role-specific objective achieved?
Resolution	How many relevant problems were uncovered and solved?
Relationship	What capacity for future cooperation remains?
Individual	Did the players preserve or recover Security, Clarity and Agency?

Possible conclusions include:

• successful outcome and healthy repair;
• successful outcome but damaged relationships;
• failed outcome but preserved integrity and safety;
• strong personal growth despite group failure;
• manipulative short-term victory;
• unresolved crisis with a viable path forward;
• necessary separation;
• complete Frame Capture.

A player may win personally while the group loses, or sacrifice a personal objective to enable a shared success.

Scenario design can determine which dimensions matter most.

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15. Solo learning and high-score mode

The solo mode can use automated characters whose behaviour is determined by:

• traits;
• current state;
• relationship position;
• goal alignment;
• reflex decks.

The automated characters should not simply be adversaries. They may become more cooperative or more defensive based on how the player interacts with them.

At the end of the scenario, all remaining hidden problem cards are revealed. The player then sees what they failed to discover.

A possible score could be:

Problem score

• surface problem solved: +2
• hidden problem uncovered: +1
• hidden problem solved: +3
• root problem solved: +5
• false lead correctly rejected: +2

Individual score

• personal problem voluntarily revealed and resolved: +5
• defensive impulse resisted constructively: +2
• Agency recovered after overload: +2
• another player’s Agency preserved: +2

Relationship score

• relationship moved toward Partnering: +3
• broken promise repaired: +2
• safe boundary established: +2
• forced exposure: −2
• weaponised disclosure: −4

System penalties

• Frame Capture: −5
• unresolved visible problem: −2
• unresolved hidden problem revealed at game end: −1
• superficially solved problem that later returns: −3

The player can compete against:

• their own prior score;
• a scenario par score;
• different difficulty settings;
• the same scenario with different characters;
• a seeded sequence of events.

The score should reward not only resolving many problems, but resolving the right problems without destroying the people or relationships needed for future resolution.

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16. Example of the state mechanism

Mara has:

• Stress 5
• Self-Security 2
• Clarity 3
• Agency 2
• Trait: Status-Sensitive
• Defensive Reflex: DARVO

A colleague publicly raises a problem involving a promise Mara made.

The public challenge causes:

• Stress +1
• Self-Security −1

Her DARVO Reflex activates. Deny enters her Impulse Slot.

Mara now has four options:

1. play Deny and receive immediate Stress relief;
2. spend two Agency to play Pause instead;
3. accept a Support card from another player;
4. reveal her personal problem, Fear of Public Incompetence, gaining Clarity but exposing vulnerability.

Another player could expose that personal problem. It would then become visible and potentially solvable, but Mara would gain additional Stress and place a Breach token on that relationship.

If Mara voluntarily reveals it, the group may address both:

• the original promise;
• the fear that made accountability feel intolerable.

The original problem does not disappear merely because the personal problem has been understood.

That distinction is fundamental:

Understanding why someone acted defensively may enable repair, but it does not remove responsibility for the original action.

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17. Recommended first playable prototype

The first prototype should probably contain:

• 2–6 players;
• four state tracks per player;
• six character traits;
• six Defensive Reflexes;
• six Secure Practices;
• one central Problem Board;
• Surface, Cause, Impact, Personal and Root problem cards;
• shared, subgroup, role and personal goals;
• sparse relationship edges;
• simultaneous action selection;
• four scenarios;
• a solo automa and scoring sheet.

The first design test should focus on one question:

Does the player feel the difference between knowing the constructive action and still being under meaningful pressure not to choose it?

If that works, the game has captured something much deeper than a catalogue of good and bad conflict behaviours. It has become a game about preserving freedom of action inside a changing psychological and relational system.

Ideas and Extensibility

I like the collection of concepts. It will be fun to shape an engaging game from where we are. My initial goal is to have a very compact game with a simple enough set of elements and rules to be picked up easily and quite compact games that last for 5 to 15 minutes. I think the elements we discovered lend themselves to several extensions that increase the complexity and duration of the game. I especially like that DARVO is a sequence. While gameplay is decisions from one turn to the next, slipping into DARVO introduces a binding sequence of consequences shaping the situation for a number of turns. I would like to introduce the concept of attacking and supporting other players by playing action cards against them. Those change the inner state and can support stability, regulation and freedom of choice or trigger a response like DARVO. Adding more playbooks of positive and negative reactions like the ones you described is a natural extension mechanism for richer gameplay. So i would like to start with only one defensive reflex DARVO and GROUND as the only solution practice. I like the simultaneous play idea a lot and about modelling relations there should be a limit to the number of relevant relations with a mechanism to break relations which allows to establish new ones. Limiting the number of relations is another lever for tuning the complexity and duration of the game.

The base game should be a deliberately compressed conflict kernel. Most of the concepts already discovered belong in extensions; the first version only needs enough depth to make this loop tangible:

Pressure reduces freedom of choice. Actions alter other players’ pressure. Relationships amplify those effects. Crossing a threshold activates DARVO as a three-turn chain. GROUND can regulate, restore the problem frame, or end an unsafe relation.

Compact core game

Players: 2–6 Duration: 5–15 minutes Rounds: 5 Default mode: Semi-cooperative Complexity control: Number of active problems and relationship slots

Each player receives:

• one Stress track from 0–5;
• one Freedom token;
• two relationship slots;
• five reusable action cards;
• two random Solution cards;
• one DARVO sequence marker.

The shared play area contains:

• one visible Surface Problem;
• two to five hidden Problem cards;
• a Solution deck;
• relationship markers;
• a five-round timer.

The individual state

For the compact game, the individual layer can be represented by only two elements.

Stress: 0–5

Stress	State	Effect
0–2	Free	Any action may be selected
3	Pressured	Attacks against you become more dangerous
4	Reactive	You must play Attack or GROUND, unless you spend Freedom
5	Triggered	Begin the DARVO sequence

This makes the internal state create a behavioural preference without completely eliminating agency.

Freedom token

A ready Freedom token allows a player to ignore the restriction at Stress 4.

Once spent, it remains unavailable until restored by:

• GROUND;
• strong support from a positive relationship;
• solving a problem focused on that player.

Later extensions can replace this binary token with a fuller Agency track.

The five action cards

Every player has the same reusable action set. One card is selected face down each round.

Action	Core effect
Investigate	Reveal one hidden Problem and draw a Solution
Solve	Play a matching Solution against a revealed Problem
Support	Reduce another player’s Stress and influence the relationship
Attack	Increase another player’s Stress and influence the relationship
GROUND	Regulate yourself, restore the frame, or disengage

The cards return to the player after resolution. There is no action deck to learn or optimise.

The variability comes from:

• current Stress;
• available Solutions;
• hidden Problems;
• relationships;
• simultaneous decisions;
• active DARVO sequences.

Simultaneous play

Each round:

1. Every player selects an action and, where necessary, a target.
2. All cards are revealed simultaneously.
3. Actions resolve in a fixed order.
4. Active DARVO stages resolve.
5. Stress, relationships and Freedom are updated.
6. The round marker advances.

A practical resolution order is:

GROUND → Support → DARVO → Investigate → Attack → Solve

GROUND and Support happen early because regulation can change how a triggered player proceeds. Solve happens last because the problem must remain visible and the player must remain capable of acting.

DARVO as a binding sequence

When a player first reaches Stress 5, they enter DARVO. Place their sequence marker on Deny.

The three stages occur over consecutive rounds:

1. Deny

Turn one revealed, unsolved Problem face down and place a Denied marker on it.

A denied Problem:

• cannot be solved;
• cannot be revealed through ordinary Investigation;
• remains part of the scenario;
• can only be restored through GROUND.

After resolving Deny, advance to Attack.

2. Attack

The triggered player must direct an additional Attack against:

• the player whose action triggered them;
• or, where ambiguous, a player of their choice.

This happens in addition to their selected action for that round.

Advance to Reverse.

3. Reverse

Give the target a Blame token and take a Protection token.

A Blame token can:

• count as +1 effective Stress;
• prevent the player from forming a new supportive relation;
• subtract from their score if unresolved.

A Protection token cancels the next Attack against the DARVO player.

After Reverse:

• remove the DARVO sequence;
• reduce the DARVO player’s Stress by two;
• leave all Denied Problems, Blame and relationship damage in play.

That final Stress reduction matters. It explains why the reflex can be self-reinforcing:

DARVO creates short-term internal relief by transferring pressure into the shared system.

Interrupting the sequence

Entering DARVO should have at least one unavoidable consequence. It should not be cancelled before Deny occurs merely by playing one card.

The sequence can be interrupted in two ways:

Self-regulation

The player plays GROUND. The current DARVO stage still resolves, but the remaining stages are removed afterward.

Relational regulation

The player receives Support through a positive relationship. This can cancel the current stage before it resolves.

This creates a meaningful distinction:

• self-regulation limits escalation;
• a trusted relationship may prevent the harmful action altogether.

GROUND as one compact practice

GROUND remains one action card, but contains three selectable modes. The six elements are paired to keep it usable.

GR — Ground and Restate

• Reduce your Stress by two.
• Restore your Freedom token.

When used during DARVO, the current stage resolves, but the remainder of the sequence ends.

OU — Observe and Uphold

Choose one:

• turn one Denied Problem face up;
• cancel an Attack against you;
• preserve a positive relationship that would otherwise be damaged.

ND — Name and Decide

Choose one:

• remove one Blame token from yourself;
• break one relationship involving you;
• reject a Reverse effect and return attention to the shared Problem.

This gives GROUND three clear functions:

1. regulate the person;
2. protect the problem frame;
3. choose the terms of engagement.

The positive playbook is therefore not a morally superior attack card. It restores the capacity to choose.

Limited relationships

Each player has a limited number of relationship slots.

For the standard game, use two slots per player. A relation occupies one slot for both participants.

Each relationship marker has two sides:

• Bond
• Rivalry

Forming relations

When Support or Attack is played against someone with whom no relationship exists:

• Support may create a Bond;
• Attack may create a Rivalry;
• the relation is only created if both players have an available slot.

The immediate action still works when no slots are available, but it leaves no persistent relationship.

Relationship effects

Existing relation	Support effect	Attack effect
None	−1 Stress	+1 Stress
Bond	−2 Stress and restore Freedom	+2 Stress and flip to Rivalry
Rivalry	−1 Stress; target may accept Bond	+2 Stress and break the relation

A Bond can therefore prevent a DARVO stage through strong Support.

An Attack through a Bond represents betrayal: it has a stronger effect and changes the relationship immediately.

A repeated Attack through Rivalry breaks the relationship, freeing both slots.

GROUND’s Name and Decide mode also permits a player to break a relationship deliberately.

Relationship capacity as a game dial

Slots per player	Result
1	Very fast, pair-focused, sharp alliance choices
2	Standard game with shifting subgroups
3	Longer and more political
Unlimited	Advanced social-network simulation

The relationship limit does more than reduce bookkeeping. It makes attention, trust and hostility scarce resources.

A player cannot maintain a significant relationship with everyone.

Problems and matching solutions

Each scenario begins with one visible Surface Problem and several hidden Problem cards.

A Problem card contains:

• a solution symbol;
• a point value;
• sometimes an immediate state effect;
• possibly a focus on one player or subgroup.

A compact solution vocabulary could use four suits:

Symbol	Meaning
Clarify	Evidence, facts, understanding
Repair	Acknowledgement, restitution, apology
Boundary	Protection, limits, consequences
Change	New process, commitment, behaviour

Only revealed Problems may be solved.

A player choosing Solve must discard a matching Solution card. The solved Problem is claimed as points or added to the shared score.

Examples:

• Unclear expectation → Clarify
• Broken agreement → Repair
• Repeated intrusion → Boundary
• Unsafe process → Change

The base game should generally require only one matching symbol per Problem. Multi-part Problems belong in an extension.

Hidden information

Investigation reveals a Problem and gives the investigating player another Solution card.

This creates a simple tension:

• Investigate creates opportunities for everyone.
• Solve captures the value.
• Attack may prevent another player from solving.
• Deny can hide a valuable Problem again.
• Support can keep a player capable of acting.

A group may know it needs more information while each individual prefers to wait for someone else to spend their action uncovering it.

Win conditions

The default game can be semi-cooperative.

Shared condition

The players must collectively solve a scenario-specific amount of Problem value before the fifth round ends.

If the threshold is missed, the group loses.

Individual result

When the group succeeds, the player with the greatest solved Problem value has the strongest personal result.

Blame tokens and unresolved obligations reduce individual scores.

This creates enough tension to make voluntary Attacks meaningful without making total sabotage rational. A player who destroys the group’s problem-solving capacity cannot win.

Pure cooperative mode

All solved Problems enter one shared score. Players attempt to exceed the scenario threshold while minimising:

• unresolved Problems;
• active DARVO stages;
• Blame tokens;
• broken relationships.

This is particularly suitable for introductory and learning play.

Coalition scenarios

Scenario cards can define goals for:

• all players;
• named subgroups;
• any current Bond network;
• players holding particular roles.

A Bond-connected group can count as a temporary coalition. Because relationships can flip or break, group membership remains dynamic without requiring a separate team system.

For example:

Any Bond coalition of at least two players scores four additional points if it collectively solves one Clarify and one Repair Problem.

Two players can cooperate on that goal while remaining competitors in the overall game.

Example round

Four players are in round three.

• Ana has Stress 5 and is on Deny.
• Ben has a Bond with Ana.
• Cara has a Rivalry with Ana.
• David is unrelated to Ana.

They secretly select:

• Ana: Solve
• Ben: Support Ana
• Cara: Attack Ana
• David: Investigate

The cards are revealed.

Ben’s Support through a Bond reduces Ana’s Stress by two and cancels the current DARVO stage. Ana leaves DARVO without denying the visible Problem.

Cara’s Attack then hits Ana through a Rivalry, increasing her Stress by two. The Rivalry breaks because it was attacked through again.

David reveals a hidden Problem.

Ana finally resolves Solve against an already visible Problem.

In a single simultaneous turn:

• a relationship prevented DARVO;
• another relationship ended;
• a hidden Problem appeared;
• one Problem was solved;
• Ana remained vulnerable to being triggered again.

No player had to wait through a long individual turn.

What belongs outside the base game

The first version should exclude:

• character traits;
• multiple defensive reflexes;
• personal hidden Problems;
• separate Clarity, Security and Agency tracks;
• directional relationships;
• multi-symbol Problems;
• long-term campaign memory;
• individual action decks;
• complex role powers.

Those become clean extension layers:

Reflex expansion

Withdrawal, appeasement, counter-control, freezing and intellectualisation.

Character expansion

Different Stress triggers, defensive tendencies and regulation strengths.

Personal Problems expansion

Hidden individual Problems that change preferences and victory conditions.

Relationship expansion

Trust levels, promises, betrayals and asymmetric perceptions.

History expansion

Multiple connected scenarios in which unresolved Problems and relationship states carry forward.

The minimal prototype

A first paper prototype could use:

• five action cards per player;
• one Stress track and Freedom token per player;
• six Bond/Rivalry relationship cards;
• six DARVO reference strips;
• four Solution suits;
• twelve to eighteen Problem cards;
• five rounds;
• one shared score threshold.

The decisive playtest question is:

Does entering DARVO feel like a consequential loss of behavioural freedom, while GROUND and relational Support still provide meaningful ways to regain choice?

That is the compact game’s central experience. Everything else can grow around it.

Name of the Game

Let's name the game: GROUND - A Game of Bonds and Rivalry (DARVO Edition)

Excellent. I would present it as:

GROUND

A Game of Bonds and Rivalry

DARVO Edition

This gives the name a useful product architecture:

• GROUND is the enduring game and brand.
• A Game of Bonds and Rivalry expresses the central social mechanism.
• DARVO Edition identifies the compact starting ruleset and leaves room for later editions built around other reflexes, settings, or relationship dynamics.

For compact packaging and card backs, this variation also works well:

GROUND — Bonds & Rivalry: DARVO Edition

The full version feels more distinctive and explanatory; the shortened version is stronger as a logo lockup.

First full description

Please create the set of cards based on the core game design above as a dataset that i can reuse to actually design the playing cards and other game materials from. Like a bill of materials but with all the elements spelled out with their textual and symbolic content.

GROUND — DARVO Edition dataset

The playtest dataset contains the complete textual and symbolic specification for:

• 81 standard cards: 30 Actions, 24 Solutions, 20 Problems, 4 Scenarios, and 3 Game Modes.
• Six player mats, six Bond/Rivalry tiles, and the full token set.
• Exact GROUND and DARVO rules, relationship effects, Stress/Freedom mechanics, scoring modes, card backs, stable identifiers, accessibility symbols, dimensions, and production notes.
• A print manifest with one row per printable component or token family.

Files

GROUND_DARVO_Edition_Card_Dataset_v0.1.xlsx)

GROUND_DARVO_Edition_Card_Dataset_v0.1.json)

GROUND_DARVO_Edition_CSV_Bundle_v0.1.zip)

The Excel workbook is the main working artifact. The JSON and CSV versions use the same stable IDs and content, making them suitable for automated card-layout generation, localization, balancing tools, or a digital implementation.

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