Customer Reviews

Barnga: A Simulation Game on Cultural Clashes

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm a college professor who also does diversity training. I use BARNGA in my corporate trainings as well as in my college classroom. Everyone loves it! The simulation is an excellent way of driving home the idea that every environment (an institution, a business, a classroom) has unwritten rules that we assume have been communicated to the uninitiated. When the new person experiences problems, we all too often attribute the problem to a lack of skills rather than to a lack of knowledge about the "rules." This game is a great deal of fun and allows the facilitator to engage the participants in some serious discussion afterward about diversity. Excellent! Get it today! You won't be sorry.

Barnga is what I call a simple yet elegant learning tool. Though the title of this simulation-game suggests that it is a simulation on cultural clashes, one can feel free to define the term "culture" quite broadly. I have used Barnga for years to help groups understand cultural diversity issues, conflict resolution styles, mental models and paradigms, and most recently the human responses to change acceptance. If you are a business/O.D. consultant, H.R. professional or a manager charged with helping a group of people to become more effective, Barnga is likely to be one of the best learning tool you'll ever own!

I was first introduced to BARNGA by playing the game at a diversity conference held in the Bay Area, CA. I was surprised at how ruthless and unforgiving I was to the people who entered my little community. I made them play my way and never took the time to understand their point of view or the rules that they knew. I am a student, 18 years old and i wish this concept had been introduced to me earlier. I didn't think that I had any prejudices but I do and BARNGA made me realize them.

I was first introduced to BARNGA by playing the game at a diversity conference held in the Bay Area, CA. I was surprised at how ruthless and unforgiving I was to the people who entered my little community. I made them play my way and never took the time to understand their point of view or the rules that they knew. I am a student, 18 years old and i wish this concept had been introduced to me earlier. I didn't think that I had any prejudices but I do and BARNGA made me realize them.

This book contains all you need to run one of the most successful simulation games ever devised. The book includes photo-copiable signs for use in the game and all you need provide are a few decks of cards. Unlike most activities of this order, the game is a relatively simple one in which different groups of students play cards with each other use different rules. At first, students playing the game are baffled, then annoyed, then even hostile toward one another.

The game is an excellent way to promote discussion of how our pre-conceptions lead to cultural misunderstandings.

Greg Strong, English Professor, Tokyo

Barnga is a game that explores differences in teams. I won't comment on it more than that, but it is definitively fun to play... it is too bad you can only play it ones yourself and then "the point" is lost. This little book explains the game of Barnga. It is hard to keep the game and the book separated for this review, but I'll try.

Bargna is a game that the author, Thiagi, invented during a revolution in Liberia. During that time, he couldn't leave him home and to kill the time, they played a lot of games. During these games, he came up with the idea of Barnga which is a card game that explores differences in teams. I won't explain the rules or how the game works but have tried the game out myself and it was great fun... and especially a great learning for the participants. An Amazon review purely for the game would get 5 stars from me.

The book is a slightly different story. The book is quite thin, perhaps a hundred pages. But of these hundred pages, only 30 or so are 'useful'. What I mean by that is that the explanation of the game takes perhaps only 10-15 pages. The other 15 pages describe variations of the game. The rest of the book contains hand-out that can be used for playing the game in English... French, German and Spanish. As most people will only play in one language, that means about half of the book is not useful for you. Also, the slides and descriptions could better be distributed over the internet rather than in book form (and I couldn't find exactly the same descriptions on the internet).

In other words, the book is somewhat a waste of paper. The 30 pages describing the game are pretty good, which is why I would give it 2 stars for the book itself.

In the end, the total rating is about 3.5 stars. Amazon doesn't provide that option, so I'll round it up to 4 stars as I really did like the game. The game is worth playing, the book isn't really worth buying... but you do need to learn about the game before you can play it :)

I used this game to spark a discussion of cultural differences for students studying abroad. Conducting and playing the game is simple enough. Success comes from leading the discussion afterwards, and some time needs to be spent by the leader developing cues for a viable contribution by the students. The book provides some guidelines for this, but experience in leading group discussions helps a lot.

The BARNGA game is definitely a good game to use in cross cultural trainings. However, what the book covers about the game is so limited that I would advise to find it online or ask around ([...]). To me the book is not worth the money.

This is a very simple game that everyone has enjoyed playing and learning from. The book offers many lead-ins for facilitators, and offers ways to 'tweak' the discussions to make them appropriate/relevant for many groups. Probably the best game out there to illustate the themes of culture shock and 'checking your assumptions'.

Very disappointed in this book. It is basically a glorified and expensive card game with a book that comes in 6 languages while you only need one! Very strange way to make money....expected much more!