Laos Rice game

This game is a model mimicking an archetypical village in the rice belt of Laos. The players represent rice farmers and in this role their aim is to be able to feed their family and cover the additional living expenses.

Each farmer is given his own game board consisting of 7 fields. Out of these 7, 4 represent rice fields, each with slightly different conditions, 1 is the farmers house, 1 is a grazing area for cattle and 1 represents a factory in Thailand. The players now have to decide how they allocate their financial assets and labor force to these fields. As the game unfolds, several new possibilities are introduced, such as fertilizer, improved rice seeds, a direct seeding machine and so on. The players have to decide, if they want to invest in these new options or not.

The objective of the game is to inquire the conditions under which new technologies will be applied by a large number of farmers. In order to do so, we are aiming to understand the decision making process of rice farmers regarding the adoption and management practices of these new technologies. Furthermore, we are exploring how a collaboration between the farmers, traders and extension officers can support the adoption process outlined above.