At an Evanston brewpub, people gathered not for a traditional board game but to test Point Taken, a new conversation game developed by Northwestern University researchers. The game aims to foster civil and productive discussions on contentious topics such as transgender athletes and affordable housing.
Point Taken was created by Steven Franconeri, a psychology professor at Northwestern. He shifted his research focus due to concerns about the increasing hostility in public disagreements. Drawing from his expertise in visualizing information, Franconeri designed the game to help participants see both their agreements and disagreements.
Franconeri collaborated with colleagues from Northwestern’s Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement to include rules that encourage civil discourse, which are based on established conflict resolution strategies. The intention is to make it easier for people to listen, manage emotions, and consider different perspectives.
“Disagreement is good, and progress isn’t possible without it,” Franconeri said. “Putting careful and thoughtful arguments into competition is at the core of our judicial and legislative system and is the backbone of science. But because of the way media and social media amplifies outrage and extreme views, people tend to think of those with different beliefs as evil or incompetent.”
Point Taken requires two players with opposing views on a topic to work together toward a shared goal: understanding each other’s reasoning well enough that they can visualize why they disagree. Winning does not depend on persuading the other player but on reaching mutual understanding.
The rules are designed to prevent common barriers to constructive disagreement such as incivility, dishonest tactics like “whataboutism,” and failure to listen. Players may critique arguments but not personal character or motives. Points are awarded for clarifying another’s argument, facts must be jointly researched when cited, and overgeneralizations are disallowed.
Franconeri explained: “Our goal with this game is not to take sides on any issue, but to structure respectful and rational arguments — and let people come to their own conclusions.”
According to feedback collected by the research team, most players find they can discuss difficult subjects more comfortably than expected. Many also report realizing their areas of disagreement are smaller than assumed.
“Players are surprised to find they actually agree on 80% of their reasoning, and that the disagreement zone is far smaller than they predicted,” Franconeri said.
He noted that even outside the context of the game, following these principles can improve discussions at home or work: “Don’t try to persuade each other, that backfires. Instead, earnestly try to understand how they think. Listen carefully and ask clarifying questions. Don’t show even a hint of anger, and if it gets heated, pause the conversation,” he said. “Then repeat back their argument to them, more clearly than they stated it. That’s magical to them — just imagine if someone did that for you.”
He added: “Now they should be ready to hear your side — they’d look selfish if they didn’t. But don’t push or try to persuade them, because people are deeply limited in how much they can change their mind in a single conversation — you need to be ready for a long road.”
Point Taken can be played by adults or children who can read and write. A free version is available online at https://pointtaken.social/.