Cruel 2 B Kind

Cruel 2 B Kind is a game of benevolent assassination.

At the beginning of the game, you and a partner-in-crime are assigned a secret weapon. To onlookers, it will seem like a random act of kindness. But to a select group of other players, the seemingly benevolent gesture is a deadly maneuver that will bring them to their knees.

Some players will be slain by a serenade. Others will be killed by a compliment. You and your partner might be taken down by an innocent group cheer.

You will be given no information about your targets. No name, no photo, nothing but the guarantee that they will remain within the outdoor game boundaries during the designated playing time. Anyone you encounter could be your target. The only way to find out is to attack them with your secret weapon.

Jane McGonigal and I designed Cruel 2 B Kind in the spring and summer of 2006, and premiered it at the Come Out And Play Festival in New York, September 23, 2006. Since then, the game has been played in San Francisco (several times), Durham, Boston, Cleveland, Tel Aviv, Santa Monica, Seattle, Toronto, London, Gothenburg, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ann Arbor.

Anyone can play, and anyone can organize their own game. Visit the game’s website or watch CurrentTV’s segment on the game, from April 2007. Then consider organizing your own game.