Ratio! The rallying cry of jurists everywhere. Show your reasoning, explain and justify your point! Show your workings, as it were. Display, for judgment, the mechanics of your argument—its details, moves, steps, dimensions, elements; the strength of its conclusions, its framing and structure. And judgment, of course, has its own ratio, its own reasoning and rationality, structure and movement. Its own play of elements, of sources, connections, and applications; a play of interpretation.
Ratio! A play of reasoning. A game of judgment. And, indeed, a card game. A table-top battle of who is the best judge, the most able to amass and amalgamate legal structure and judicial elements.
A card game?! Yes, that’s right. David Yuratich and I are developing a card game based on legal reasoning. Ratio! A Game of Judgment gives players the chance to play at legal reasoning. To practice, challenge, and reflect on the juridical construction of law. A useful classroom tool, perhaps? Or just for fun with friends and colleagues.
The basic concept is that players are judges, seeking to ‘out-judge’ their fellow players. Turns pass, cards are collected and discarded, and the elements of a judgment emerge on the table top. Each player constructing their own sets of facts and material facts (if such a distinction exists), their own applications and discussions of cases and foundational cases, their own academic and statutory authority. A ratio must be made (if such a thing exists), and general obiter discussion is collected. An opportunity to see the elements of a judgment emerge: their logic, relation, and value (more complex judgments, with more elements, means that judgment receives more juris points—just like in real juridical life).
An opportunity, also, to reflect: are these really the elements of a judgment? Do these divisions and structures really ‘exist’? Is this really what judges do? Is this how judgment works?
We are currently developing iteration number four, following playtesting of previous versions with some (very patient) colleagues. And we will hopefully seeking some funding to assist in the initial printing and publication, and dissemination to willing law teachers for classroom use across the country. And—as is the dream—mass market publication, swiftly followed by world domination. Or maybe just a quiet night in with friends.
[NB: The development of this game was in no way inspired by Ivey v Genting Casinos.]
