GREEN MEME EFFECT GAME
What is the game about?
Find a meme that fits the caption!
The caption is either provided on a card or generated randomly on the website. The players then have to find a meme – they can use the provided cards or go on an internet quest to find one online! They can even act it out physically – there are no limits to the imagination.
But watch out: there is a 60 second time limit!
Why should I play?
Because it is a fun way to spend time and you even learn something. All captions are somehow related to sustainable behaviours and promote a green lifestyle.
What do I need?
The GREEN MEME EFFECT game can be played as a physical card game as well as digitally with no other resources than a smartphone, a tablet or a PC (one device per player) or even in a mix of both.
How to play the online version:
- Before you start, make sure that each player has access to a digital device with internet access.
- Pick one player who will be the JUDGE of the first round!
- The JUDGE then opens the online game on their digital device (https://green-meme-effect.eu/meme-game)
- The page with the caption is now put down or held for all players to see.
- All other players now have 60 seconds to find a meme or GIF that fits the caption.
- When the time is up, show your memes to the judge! They will now pick the winner of the round.
- Then, the next player becomes the JUDGE and shows a new caption on their phone.
If you have a PC or tablet available as additional device, use that to display the caption online!
In this case, you can all search for memes at the same time and vote for the winner democratically without a dedicated judge. If you want to play like this, we recommend that all players show their meme when the timer is over. When it is time to vote, on a count of three, everyone points at the person they think had the best meme. The person having the most players point at them wins the round!
Who wins?
For keeping score, we recommend to either write down points on paper (one point for each round's winner) or you can use physical tokens to give out to winners (e.g. paper clips). Choose a method that is easiest and most fun for you!
The game is over when one player has reached 10 points.
How to play the offline version:
- Print and prepare the cards provided here.
- Sort the cards in two stacks: one for captions, one for memes.
- Each player gets 5 meme cards at the start of the game on their hand.
- One player is selected to be the JUDGE of the first round (for example the youngest) and draws a caption for everyone to see.
- All other players have now 60 seconds to select a meme card and put it face-down on the table. (We recommend using the timer of your smartphone)
- The JUDGE now collects all meme cards, mixes them and puts them face-up next or below the caption card.
- Now, it is time to decide which meme is the funniest and fits the caption best! The player who drew the caption selects the winner and the owner of the winning meme receives the caption card as token of their win.
- All played meme cards are put back into the meme stack and everyone who put down a meme card gets to draw a new one (so that everyone has 5 meme cards in their hand).
- Then, the next player gets to be the JUDGE.
In a mixed setting, you can use your phone (or other digital devices) to search for memes and GIFs to fit the caption!
Who wins?
The winner of each round gets to keep the caption card and when you finished the game, count who has the most.
Concept Note: The Idea Behind the Game
The GREEN MEME EFFECT educational game can be played in a typical youth setting and that transports the value of green skills, lifestyles and attitudes in a playful and impactful way. The artwork for visual elements of the print version was produced by young artists - art for youth by youth. For this, a broad call for artists was launched in 2024 and the winning artworks are now featured in a special edition of meme cards.
To develop the educational game, the partnership developed a few ideas in early 2023 and then engaged the target group of young people and youth professionals in an open innovation style survey.
The target group was asked in personal contexts as well as via an online questionnaire in mid-2023. The main aim was to estimate a general direction of the game that should be developed. The main outcomes of the survey can be summarised as follows:
- A card game to be played in digital and physical space
- It should be fun, competitive and easy
- 3-6 players are desired
- 10-30 minutes are ideal
In late 2023, the partnership met in Austria and play-tested a few best practice examples to learn more about game mechanics that could be utilised in the Green Meme Effect game. As soon as the prototype was ready in 2024, focus groups of young people in our partner countries play-tested it and gave valuable feedback that shaped the final version of the game. We hope you enjoy it!