Second Self
Philosophical Card Game
Overview
An online philosophical card game themed around AI, memory, governance, and the formation of subjectivity. Set in a near future where algorithmic systems have permeated the deep layers of society, players do not simply defeat opponents — they design a society.
Players construct information environments, establish institutions of memory, choose public spaces and governance structures, and in doing so determine what kind of human subjects emerge. Playing a card is not merely deploying force — it is an act of rewriting the conditions of society and shifting the very terms on which selfhood is constituted.
At the heart of the game lies this question: what happens when systems no longer merely govern human behaviour, but begin participating in the very process by which humans become selves?
Card System
Philosopher Cards
Foucault, Arendt, Rawls, Butler, Simondon, Stiegler, Beauvoir, Hobbes — functioning as theoretical lenses that alter the operating principles of the world.
Concept Cards
Autonomy, recognition, discipline, care, sovereignty, legitimacy, narrative identity, collective memory, invisibility, democratic subjectivity.
Institution Cards
Recommendation engines, AI tutors, biometric IDs, sentiment analysis, personal AI companions, memory archives, civic reputation systems, predictive governance dashboards.
Event Cards
Electoral crises, war, data leaks, AI scandals, youth mental health crises, platform collapses, constitutional amendments, large-scale anti-surveillance movements.
Intervention Cards
Audits, encryption, deliberation, civic assemblies, data strikes, slow media, human review, counterpublic formation.
Victory Conditions
Victory is not achieved by depleting an opponent’s HP. Players must manage tensions across multiple indicators: stability, freedom, legitimacy, innovation, psychological integration, democratic capacity, and memory diversity.
“Winning” is not about building the strongest board — it becomes an evaluation of what kind of society you built and, consequently, what kind of human being it produced.