Sharing values through a board game
What is ito?
I happened to learn about the board game ito while reading the manga Rent-A-Girlfriend. It seems to be mainly designed for casual social situations like group dates, but it also looks useful for other purposes such as team building, so I’d like to introduce it here.
There are two versions of ito: the original and ito Rainbow (v2.0). The core gameplay is the same, but some improvements have been made, so if you’re buying it now, the Rainbow version is probably the better choice.
The main differences between the original and Rainbow are roughly:
- Smaller cards, making it easier to carry around
- Topic cards increased from 2 questions to 3, with added frames
- Marker crystals included
- Simpler rules
Rules of ito
There are quite a few people who have uploaded gameplay videos on YouTube, and watching one makes it easier to grasp the rules.
There are two main types of cards:
- Topic cards
- Number cards from 1 to 100
Topic cards define the theme to be leveled. For example, "Popularity of foods you can buy at a convenience store," or "Popularity of places or countries you want to visit in summer."
Each topic card has three questions written on each side. You choose one and discuss it together.
Number cards are dealt to each player. If you shuffle properly, everyone will have a different number. Based on that number, each player proposes something that fits the theme at that relative “level,” places the card face down, and lines it up next to the 0 card. If, when flipped over, the numbers are in ascending order, the team succeeds.
For example, suppose the players draw 18, 58, and 79. "Popularity of foods you can buy at a convenience store" is debatable, but you might say: 18 = private-brand snacks, 58 = Garigari-kun ice cream, 79 = a salmon bento.
The fun part is guessing other people’s numbers while arranging the cards face down.
It’s a cooperative game, so you can rephrase
In the three vows of ito, it says:
- Play with everyone’s enjoyment as the top priority
- If someone is struggling, actively ask for their thoughts
- Accept that differences in opinion are natural, and enjoy differing values
It’s a high-context game that goes against the idea of uniformity and diversity in a way, and the real appeal is discussing and cooperating rather than rejecting others’ values. It seems rephrasing your proposal is allowed.
Using it for leveling at work
It’s interesting to play with family or friends because differences really stand out, but with the right topics, it could also be useful at work.
For example: "A sales rep is told by a major client that they want to terminate the contract. What would be a countermeasure with a priority level of 68?" "Suddenly, you get a call saying a web service is inaccessible. What would be a priority-47 countermeasure?"
Originally, the game assumes everyone is physically present, but online you could just generate random numbers locally. There may be duplicate numbers, but in that case you could say either is fine. Either way, out of respect for the original creators, it’s best to properly purchase the game for company use.
$ irb > (1..100).to_a.sample
Final thoughts
The main game mechanic being likened to a “spider’s thread” (kumo no ito) is probably a reference to Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s short story The Spider’s Thread. Lining up numbers in ascending order from the 0 card feels like threads connecting life and death, deciding fate.
