Bewitching Technologies is a tarot-inspired oracle card game that challenges players to rethink and unsettle the real-world impacts of computational tech like AI and the legal frameworks governing them. The game takes a decolonising and queerfeminist approach to spark conversations and collaborations for advocacy, education, and research. It positions computation and law as socio-political forms of technology, and asks players to examine their individual or collective participation and resistance against them.
All players will need a pen and paper. Upon entering the game, you will be guided by in-game characters to formulate a question important to you about computation, AI or the law. Let the cards act as your oracle: shuffle and draw, placing the cards before you. Your goal is to discuss and interpret the cards to respond to your question. In the process, you may unveil new understandings of power and justice and of exploitation through tech and law. You may unpack labour and environmental entanglements of tech as well as the politics of human and more-than-human agencies. Afterward, you are invited to write a manifesto or a prayer to consolidate and share your insights beyond the game.
Players should expect to encounter emotive depictions and critical engagement with themes of racist, colonial, gender and sexual violence. Suitable for ages 16 and above.
Bewitching Technologies may be played solo or in a group. Group play proceeds using a single device and screen sharing. For the best experience, please play on a desktop or laptop with your browser maximized. Browsing via Chrome or Firefox may deliver optimal performance.
What people say:
"Bewitching Technologies is the idea of disturbance… the disruption of the existing narrative."
"I was lost… and then suddenly it totally clicked! There is a level of mystery to this game and it was actually quite fun trying to work through what I was meant to do."
"The response from the oracle was always different, but it was always relevant, and that’s what I found most interesting! I don’t know if it was relevant in itself or if I was the one injecting the cards with meaning. Or if there were no\n-human forces at work?…Well ultimately I didn’t really care because it was about the conversations it brought."