Data visualization is a great way to celebrate our favorite pieces of art as well as reveal connections and ideas that were previously invisible. More importantly, it’s a fun way to connect things we love — visualizing data and kicking up our feet for a movie night. All week, Nightingale is exploring the intersections between data visualization and all kinds of entertainment.

數據可視化是慶祝我們最喜歡的藝術品以及揭示以前不可見的聯系和想法的好方法。 更重要的是，這是連接我們喜歡的事物的一種有趣方式-可視化數據并為電影之夜踢起腳來。 整個晚上，夜鶯都在探索 數據可視化與各種娛樂之間 的 交集 。

We’ve already argued that data visualization has arrived in the mainstream and is reaching maturity as a field. But perhaps there’s no better measure of this progress than seeing a game dedicated to data viz arrive on the scene. As part of our “Nightingale and Chill” Week coverage, I had the pleasure to interview Evan Katz, one half of the team behind Charty Party, the “adult card game of absurdly funny charts, graphs and data visualization!” Along with co-creator Josh Roberts, Evan has always found “charts to be an overlooked source of humor,” and set out to create a game that would bring these laughs to a wider audience.

我們已經指出，數據可視化已經到達的主流，并日漸成熟的領域。 但是也許沒有比看到一款致力于數據可視的游戲更好地衡量這一進展的方法了。 作為我們“ 夜鶯與寒意”周報道的一部分，我很榮幸地采訪了Charty Party背后一半團隊的Evan Katz ，這是“荒唐有趣的圖表，圖形和數據可視化的成人紙牌游戲！” 與共同創作者喬什·羅伯茨(Josh Roberts)一起，埃文(Evan)一直認為“圖表是一種被忽視的幽默來源”，并著手打造一款游戲，將這些笑聲帶給更多的觀眾。

We talked about creating a card game “voice,” how they feel data literacy has changed in recent times, and the newest developments from the Charty Party team.

我們談到了創建紙牌游戲“語音”，他們如何感覺數據素養最近發生了變化以及Charty Party團隊的最新發展。

AB: Can you tell us a bit about your team — how did the two of you meet, what are your backgrounds, etc.

AB：您能談談您的團隊嗎？你們兩個人是如何會面的？您的背景如何？

EK: Josh and I both have the same day job, working as business consultants at a boutique consulting firm in Memphis, Tennessee. Josh has previously worked in advertising, and I worked on a few startup ventures prior.

EK：喬什和我倆都是同一天的工作，在田納西州孟菲斯的一家精品咨詢公司擔任業務顧問。 喬什(Josh)以前從事廣告業，而我之前也從事過幾家創業公司。

AB: Where did the idea for Charty Party come from, and how did the game as we know it now make its way into the world?

AB：Charty Party的想法是從哪里來的？我們所知道的游戲現在是如何進入世界的？

EK: We’ve always found charts to be an overlooked source of humor, and the original idea for Charty Party sprung from a conversation about, “Is there something where your age correlates directly with how much you’d pay for it?” (We decided it’s a steak.) We started playtesting the game on sticky notes, and gradually grew it up from there into the game it is today with a lot of testing help from friends.

EK：我們一直認為圖表是人們忽視的幽默根源，而關于Charty Party的最初想法源于這樣的對話：“您的年齡是否與您的年齡直接相關？ (我們決定是一塊牛排。)我們開始在便簽紙上對游戲進行游戲測試，然后在朋友的大量測試幫助下，從此逐漸發展成為今天的游戲。

AB: The humor of the cards all seem to share a certain DNA. Does that spring from one of you in particular, or did you have to strategize making them feel cohesive?

AB：所有卡片的幽默似乎都具有一定的DNA。 那是從你們中的一個特別是從中產生的，還是您必須制定戰略使他們感到具有凝聚力？

EK: That’s funny you notice that! We usually write the cards independently, and Josh’s humor tends to be a bit darker while mine leads more toward the absurd. But, we always revise together, and we’ve taken a lot of care to have the tone of the game be more clever than just plain offensive. With our new edition, Charty Party: All Ages, we’ve had to work especially hard to write cards that are both school appropriate but still legitimately funny, which was challenging. But, we’re really happy with how that new version’s come out.

EK：有趣的是，您注意到了！ 我們通常獨立寫卡，而喬什的幽默傾向更暗一些，而我的則傾向于荒唐。 但是，我們總是在一起進行修改，并且我們采取了很多謹慎措施，以使比賽的氣氛比單純的進攻更加聰明。 對于我們的新版本《 Charty Party：所有年齡段》 ，我們不得不特別努力地編寫既適合學校又可以合法地發笑的卡片，這極具挑戰性。 但是，我們對于新版本的發布感到非常滿意。

AB: I own a copy of the game, and have described it to friends as “a riff on Apples to Apples for data nerds.” Did you have a target audience in mind when you created the game?

AB：我擁有該游戲的副本，并已將它形容為朋友“對蘋果公司而言，就是對數據迷們的追捧。” 在創建游戲時，您是否有目標受眾？

EK: You about nailed it! We didn’t think, “How can we make a game for data nerds?” right off the bat, but we quickly realized that audience, plus teachers and just general quirky folks, were a great match for the game.

EK：您即將釘上它！ 我們沒有想到，“我們如何為數據書呆子打造游戲？” 馬上，但我們很快就意識到，觀眾，老師和一般古怪的人都非常適合這款游戲。

AB: How do you view familiarity with data viz and data literacy in the population at large, and how did that fit into your design of the game?

AB：您如何看待整個人群對數據可視化和數據素養的熟悉程度，這如何適合您的游戲設計？

EK: Playing the game with new groups is always interesting — some people get it immediately, and others take a bit to warm up to reading the charts. But, we encourage never faulting anyone for not having a background in understanding charts, no matter their age — it’s not a skill you’re born with! But, we can almost guarantee that if you spend a night playing Charty Party, you’ll come away with a super solid, intuitive understanding of graphs. We didn’t intend for Charty Party to be a learning tool, but something about the lack of scary numbers and goofy concepts helps people say, “Oh — this stuff isn’t really that complicated.”

EK：與新的團隊一起玩游戲總是很有趣–有些人立即獲得了成功，而另一些則需要熱身來閱讀圖表。 但是，我們鼓勵您不要責備任何人，無論他們的年齡如何，都沒有理解圖表的背景-這不是您天生的技能！ 但是，我們幾乎可以保證，如果您花一個晚上玩Charty Party，您將獲得對圖表的超級扎實，直觀的理解。 我們不打算讓Charty Party成為學習工具，但是缺少一些令人恐懼的數字和愚蠢的概念可以使人們說：“哦，這東西實際上并不那么復雜。”

AB: Do you feel like data literacy has changed at all since COVID times began?

AB：自COVID時代開始以來，您是否感覺數據素養徹底改變了？

EK: Viewing and understanding charts has gained a whole new level of relevancy in 2020, so there’s certainly more reasons than ever to be able to intuitively understand a chart. Also, it’s equally important to be able understand how charts can be made to show data in a misleading way. We’ve actually included some “teacher lesson notes” in the new All Ages Version, and intentionally creating misleading charts in order to understand how data manipulation works is one of the activities!

EK：查看和理解圖??表在2020年已獲得了全新的關聯性，因此，比以往任何時候都能夠直觀地理解圖表的原因更多。 同樣，理解如何制作圖表以誤導方式顯示數據也同樣重要。 實際上，我們已經在新的《 All Ages Version》中添加了一些“教師課程筆記”，并且有意創建誤導性圖表以了解數據操縱的工作方式是其中之一！

AB: Speaking of the All Ages version (which released last month), for each Kickstarter donation you’ve been distributing cases of the game to schools in need — which is awesome! Tell us a bit more about both the new version and the donation initiative.

AB：說到“所有年齡段”版本(上個月發布)，對于Kickstarter的每次捐贈，您都在將游戲案例分發給有需要的學校-太棒了！ 告訴我們更多有關新版本和捐贈計劃的信息。

EK: We’re super excited about the All Ages version, which has successfully completed its Kickstarter thanks to 1,900+ supporters, many of them teachers. The new game is a standalone game that’s totally school appropriate (but still hilarious, even for adults!) and also works as an expansion pack to the original version. We donated 160 games to math departments around the country during the Kickstarter campaign, many of them being in lower income areas, and we plan to continue making school donations an on-going part of Charty Party: All Ages Edition even after the game is available at retail.

EK：我們對All Ages版本感到非常興奮，該版本已成功完成Kickstarter眾籌活動，這要歸功于1,900多個支持者，其中許多人是老師。 新游戲是一款完全適合學校的獨立游戲(但即使是成年人也很有趣！)，并且還可以作為原始版本的擴展包。 在Kickstarter競選期間，我們向全國的數學部門捐贈了160款游戲，其中許多處于低收入地區，并且即使在游戲可用之后，我們也計劃繼續將學校捐贈作為“ Charty Party：All Ages Edition”的一部分在零售。

AB: Any plans for other versions of Charty Party or other data-related games that you can share with us??

AB：您可以與我們共享其他版本的Charty Party或其他與數據相關的游戲的計劃嗎？

EK: We’ve got lots of ideas (none ready to share yet!) and we’ll definitely continue releasing games. It’s not data related, but it’s equally quirky and funny — our other game, Puns of Anarchy, just became available for online retail. If you love wordplay, give it a look!

EK：我們有很多想法(尚未準備好分享！)，我們一定會繼續發行游戲。 它與數據無關，但同樣古怪有趣-我們的另一款游戲《無政府狀態的雙關語》剛剛可以在線零售。 如果您喜歡文字游戲，那就來看看吧！