Blocks & Lots was produced by a creative team consisting of Dr. Pop, Rosten Woo, and Esperanza Community Housing Corporation with the help of super-coder Jared Sain.  Many other people played early versions of the game, contributed their ideas, and made it better, including:

– the clever and compassionate health promoters of Esperanza Community Housing Corporation
– Pacoima Beautiful’s leadership team
– UCLA’s 2011 Community Scholars class;
– Members of the FourStory crew, including Tony Chavira, Nathan Walpow, Andrea Walpow, Rebecca Schoenkopf, and Paul Takizawa
– Hollywood Community Studio
– California Construction Academy including Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Lanita Morris, Uyen Le, Clare Fox, Daniel Villao, Janna Shadduck-Hernandez
– PEG-LA (L.A.’s Pervasive and Environmental Gaming Group)

The Blocks and Lots board game is a great small group activity for workshops and classrooms.  Use it to introduce ideas about land use, urban planning, and what a fair city can be…and some people just like to play it for fun.

DOWNLOAD!

Click on the picture or the above link to download the game pack, which includes: a printable version of the game, how-to-play instructions, and a facilitator’s manual.

The Blocks and Lots Facilitator’s Guide includes instructions for the following 4 ways to use the Board Game in workshop settings:

1. Ice-breaker (10 minutes)
Use this 10-minute lightning round version as a warm-up activity to get people talking about development issues.
2. Alliance Building (2-3 hours)
Use the game to prepare for alliance-building, encouraging players to adopt the point of view of actors who are different than themselves.
3. Create a People’s Planning School (longer workshop)
Play the game and have an extended discussion about development issues. See our Zoning 101 section for more background information for facilitators and people who are just curious.
4. Play for fun
Some of the health promoters at Esperanza Community Housing took the game home to play with their families.

Blocks & Lots is a game that introduces people to basic land use and zoning issues in a fun and engaging way.

You can play the online game here or DOWNLOAD THE BOARD GAME