Megagame Survey Results
First off, I’m going to hope I can avoid drawing attention to the fact it’s March before I managed to get the results from this survey out - damn why did I even type that? I guess I’ll just have to dazzle you all with some amazing insights into the results to distract you from how long it took me to do this. Hey, look down there, tasty data and information!
That aside, a few caveats – I’m not a data scientist, so my analysis might be way off of what a person who looks at numbers for realsies might conclude here. This survey should not be considered a definitive proof of anything, but more a gentle indicator of where things might be.
A grand total of 138 people responded to the survey from the 2nd to the 7th December 2019, although not everyone answered every question. In some instances, I have lumped answers together to make for easier consumption in an overall category; e.g. for the nationality question if someone said they are Welsh, I have placed them under ‘British’.
If you have any questions, please do get in touch – you can find me here, although to be GDPR compliant I’m not going to be releasing this data en masse or providing any individual’s summary of responses (Ed: the survey was completely anonymous and Rob is talking about the individual responses that Google Forms provides).
There were 14 questions overall, so I’ll try to do my best for each.
1. How many megagames have you played?
Things to note here. For future surveys there may need to be greater granularity past the 20+ mark, and it’s great to see so many people who haven’t been to a large number of megagames feeling like they can engage in the survey. We’d like to make you feel welcome to the megagame community!
2. How many times have you played Watch the Skies?
Watch the Skies was the breakout megagame moment when the hobby got noticed on a slightly larger stage – all thanks to Jim Wallman for designing it, and the chaps from Shut Up, Sit Down for videoing it. It’s generally taken to be the most-played and run megagame produced to date, and is one that most people getting in to the hobby will have heard of – although according to this data, just under a third of respondents have not played it, which means two thirds have!
3. How many megagames would you ideally like to play in a year?
This is a hugely personal question, but one which might be interesting to game organisers. I would try and break this one down further by nationality, but we don’t have a huge data set there to choose from so instead we’ll look at a couple of other signifiers where we have mixed responses – age, and extroversion/introversion.
Extroversion and introversion
I was expecting to see extroverts wanting to game a lot more in this chart, but that prediction isn’t borne out by the stats here.
Age
If there’s anything we can tell from this data, it’s that as one person put it, it bears a good resemblance to the Dubai skyline. If you’re 35 – 44 you’re more likely to either want to megagame twice in a year, or attend 6 – 10? I’m not sure what this means, but hopefully it’ll add up to future data to paint a more meaningful picture.
4. What other geek/’megagame-adjacent’ hobbies are you involved with?
So not many surprises here – a game format which takes elements of boardgames and tabletop RPGs is popular with the people who like those exact things! I would have expected a few more LARPers to be enthused, but then that’s a whole other question about demographics, what appeals to who, and what exactly is a megagame anyway? Damnit, reset the clock!
Anyway, of those who completed the questionnaire, 75% are boardgamers, and 72% play RPGs.
5. Do you more regularly control or play at a megagame?
Just over a quarter of you haven’t tried being control, and apparently 3 of you have only ever been control. Cool. (Ed: check out our blog post on Controlling for more information)
6. How many megagames have you designed and run?
55% have never designed a megagame, which is fair enough. 13% have designed but not run one – you can do it; we believe in you! Always feel like you can ask for help, there are plenty of people who would be willing to assist you with your new game, whether in your local community or online.
7. What topic do you prefer for your megagames?
This was a question which allowed multiple answers, hence the numbers going above the overall number of respondents.
By far and away, with 82% of people going for it, sci-fi is the megagame topic of choice – as we’ll also see later by ‘games requested’ – but fantasy isn’t far behind. We also see that the further back in history we go, the more likely people will be to want to play those games.
8. What is your gender?
83% of those that answered identified as male, 13% as female, and 1% as non-binary.
9. What is your nationality?
Go on, own up – who put down Ewok? This question may need some thinking on next year, as it is pretty heavily British-skewed, with 50% of the respondents giving an answer that identified them as being from the UK.
If there are more outlets or a better time to get a wider audience, we need to think about how to best do that, as well as finding a better way to capture dual nationalities (should they count for both, or neither and a special ‘dual’ category? Data people, help me out here!)
10. What is your sexual preference?
65% of respondents identified as heterosexual. Next year it might be an idea to put in asexual too, because they’re ace (OK, I’ll grab my coat and go…).
It’s interesting to note the high proportion of LGBT megagamers, and makes it seem like we have a reasonably inclusive environment. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them!
11. Would you describe yourself as more introverted or more extroverted?
OK, so self-reporting extroversion and introversion might not be the most scientific measurement (as an anthropologist academic friend pointed out), but my response to that is “poo to you, sir”.
43% of respondents consider themselves in between, with introverts (35%) outnumbering the extroverts (22%). I’m not sure what perceptions are in other megagame environments, but the low number of extroverts did come as a surprise. But then, as one person pointed out – extroverts are probably out doing extrovert-y things (although as a self-confessed extrovert, I can’t think of anything more extroverted than having a full-on day of diplomacy and plotting, followed by the pub afterwards to talk to everyone about their experiences!)
12. How old are you?
50% of those that responded are in the 25–34 age bracket with 26% in the age bracket above, 35-44.
(I hereby propose that we band together and bully the others into doing our bidding)
13. Your dream game - If you could play a megagame based on any one historical period or fictional universe, what would it be and why?
If a particular concept got more than one response, it got its own entry. As an example, Dune and the French Revolution both got 2 votes specifically for them, meaning they did not go into Sci-Fi or Historical – Other, respectively.
Star Trek is the most sought-after ‘dream game’, followed by Star Wars and Warhammer 40,000 as recognisable intellectual properties. Sci-fi really is king of the genres right now!
14. Any other comments you'd like to give us as to why you like playing and/or designing megagames?
These were the 52 comments left on the final question of the survey. I may have edited some comments slightly to make more sense, but where possible I have tried to leave them as they were typed. They offer some interesting insights, as well as points to consider for a future survey.
A day outside the boring life
Brilliant hobby with so many interesting people
Can be intimidating/impenetrable to newcomers, more support/explanation before the event would be helpful and lead to more positive first experiences.
Count Von Rampiv sends his regards.
Games about realistic worlds and structures are inherently fascinating
Games outside of London, maybe the midlands?
Gives us a good excuse to travel the UK and explore new places.
Great mix of Roleplaying and Simple Mechanics. Low barrier to entry allows for great diversity in theme and style.
Having a few 10 minute toilet/food/tea breaks throughout the day would be great!
Highly enjoyable and immersive fun!
How attractive it makes me to potential romantic partners
Human interaction, negotiation
I design games I wish existed. I think everyone else in the hobby is doing the same. I wouldn't worry too much about what other people want in terms of game theming. Personal passion is a powerful motivator.
I enjoy most of the constituent elements of megagames so it seems an obvious hobby to pursue. I'm also increasing enjoying the community feel of it.
I enjoy the roleplay, the objective-motivated improv, the strategizing, and the inclusion in an overarching narrative. I find that resource management / economics of Megagames are often poorly developed but could be compelling if calibrated well. I find "dudes on a map" aspects of Megagames tedious and based on the feedback of the women I play with, I suspect it contributes to the gender imbalance in events I've been involved with.
I have not played any of the mega games as you specify the genre, but I have designed a lot of what we call big games in scouting, which are of similar nature, but usually not turn-based, but with activities as a means of generating currency. I am designing a huge game for next summer, where we'll have 1200 participants of the age of 11-25 years old and am interested in getting inspiration from the megagame concept to integrate into the big game. The game will be based on the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations, so I'm thinking of a big world map. I'm going to participate in my first ever Watch the Skies this January and I'm extremely excited.
I just think they're neat
I like game design theory especially modelling historical events. I also like playing as part of a team. Q3 says play not play or control.
I like the fact that your actions are less restricted than in conventional games, rewarding creativity; I also like the diplomatic aspect of it, and the fact that you can't really ever take it all in. You have to use teamwork and be selective about what you pay attention to, giving a sense of a world larger than yourself, usually in a state of urgent near-chaos.
I love Megagames... just wish there were more of them available in the US.
I need to always have a way to produce something of value to trade or contribute. The Britannia game with its background raiding mechanic was a great example of this.
I prefer hard mechanics to the wishy washy gossip chase frustration of LARP.
I really enjoyed the social deduction and problem-solving aspect of the games. It was great getting to know people with similar interests.
I think there great
i would prefer to see smaller games with more to do for each player than massive crap games
I'm a philosopher. My belief on the enjoyment of life is based on the relationships we have and working together with others. Mega games provide an intense group enjoyment experience and is some of the best "juice" in life.
I'm just excited to see this community grow and expand.
It is a creative outlet that is just as immersive as an RPG and can be sustained for much longer. I'm hoping to use it as a teaching tool and will run my first Megagame in 2 weeks. I had students design their own 'islands' so they can be further invested in the process. I just hope this payoff is as rewarding to run as it is to play.
it's a great mix of TTRPs and Board games. along with a great social element. the TTRPs give you a sense of working with a team and having some sort of goal to achieve. the Board Games gives you a sense of working against other people to achieve an end. and then just being able to meet new people who share similar interests is always great
It's a unique experience with a great mainstay crew. There's nothing quite like it and helping new players to realise the potential of the medium makes for an incredibly rewarding day.
It's all in the story.
It's just a very interesting format to play in and the community seems to be very drama-free (especially compared to things like LARP)
It's the perfect scale for the type of gaming experience I want.
I've always been most interested in MGs from a teaching & learning perspective, with an emphasis on political science, international relations, and society. I suppose this skews my preferences to historical and/or games that provide insight on modern issues and challenges!
Keeps the little grey cells active...
Megagames are fun as you never know what's going to happen and it's like a co-operative story.
No comment, no caution, no duty solicitor.
Only chance you get to change the course of history, to play a larger than life character, or to live a different life from the mundane world we live in.
Really enjoy fantasy/role playing. I like the fluidity of the game. I find in most games i played, control was short a few bodies, some players were not playing by the rules (sometimes willingly and unwillingly).
Roleplay roleplay roleplay (and costumes)
Studying gaming as a tool for history
The aspect of the game I enjoy the most, as both a moderator and a player, is watching the larger narrative of the game unfold.
The chaos is pretty fun = having so many moving parts to interact with
The controlled chaos, the individual responsibilities of the players, leads to great moments of teamwork. It’s really fun to watch a group of people work really well together: be it control doing a great job of managing the game, another team being very successful, and especially being a part of one of those groups myself.
The infinite degrees of freedom granted by Control, coupled with the multitude of actors.
The major feat of megagames is people making partial decisions and receiving unexpected results.
To save the planet
Unfortunately I don't get to play in games as much as I can help run them, but I love seeing stories evolve over the course of the game as the players figure out what they want to do and how all their plans and goals interact with each other.
When writing/playing in contemporary or recent historical settings, it's a good idea to avoid caricaturing the groups involved. Keeping nuance and respect in mind is key. This probably means avoiding costuming for any game based on a historical conflict that is within living memory.
Wonderful community!
Worldbuilding and mechanics that support its metaphors.
You haven't asked about disability, might be a thing for a future survey :P
What do these numbers tell us?
I have no idea; we don’t have anything to compare them against! Does that mean this was a waste of time?
I don’t think so. I used the Wargames Illustrated survey as a model and believe that just like how it has gathered interesting trends and data over the years, we have the opportunity to do the same here.
This is not the most rigorous of scientific endeavours, but I do think it will genuinely help, and if nothing else provide some quite interesting trivia. Is a friend worried that they won’t find an LGBT-friendly environment? Another friend thinks it’ll be full to the brim by over-enthusiastic types? Look at those numbers! There’s room for everyone at megagames.
On that note, it makes sense that next time we also include at least one question on disability. Not every venue is disabled-friendly, and we should be doing all we can to encourage maximum player-accessibility. There are definitely things from this survey to be improved upon in the next run.
I did originally have a question on politics in the first version of the survey, but as was pointed out that would be of trivial interest and wasn’t really relevant, just as a question on faith would be. Those things are important, yes, but not for the purposes of this survey.
So, thank you everyone, and I leave you to draw your own conclusions on this, the first megagame survey. It’s been fun to put together, and it was great to see so many people reply, and when it runs next time, we can start the real fun with data comparison! I might get help for that bit. In fact, there’s this lovely anthropologist academic I know…
May your dice always crit in the direction you want,
Rob Grayston.
Thanks Rob, that was really interesting! If you have a megagame related blog post hiding out in the deepest corners of your brain, let us know and you could see it in digital ink right here.
What do you think of the survey results? Let us know on our Facebook page!