I’ll tell you later about the game at home.
RPG Updates: Silence On The Table, a game’s release
As 2025 came to an end, I found a motivation to try and challenge myself in conceptualizing an existing phenomenon: Dinner Table Syndrome.
Disclaimer: A “phenomenon” is a temporary word since I am not sure how to describe it better nor find the closest word for it yet. I do want to be cautious in using a “syndrome” since it is not part of a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5. It has been coined by David Meek, PhD, a deaf scientist and his team after identifying a common pattern during the family gatherings. Please keep in mind that not all deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) individuals know this term. D/HH mental health professionals and organizations are working on improving this awareness on various social media platforms - consider checking them out. The name of a few organizations will be shared at the end of this article.
Before we go dive in this design process, here’s the excerpt of the Dinner Table Syndrome (DTS) from the dissertation [1]:
Conversations at the dinner table typically involve reciprocal and contingent turn-taking. This context typically includes multiple exchanges between family members, providing opportunities for rich conversations and opportunities for incidental learning. Deaf individuals who live in hearing non-signing homes often miss out on these exchanges, as typically hearing individuals use turn-taking rules that differ from those commonly used by deaf individuals. Hearing individuals’ turn-taking rules include use of auditory cues to get a turn and to cue others when a new speaker is beginning a turn. Given these mechanisms, hearing individuals frequently interrupt each other—even if they are signing. When deaf individuals attempt to obtain a turn, they are frequently lost in the ongoing dialogue. This experience, wherein deaf individuals are excluded from the flow of conversations at mealtime, is known as the dinner table syndrome.
In short, DTS is a phenomenon emerging across the holiday gatherings where deaf and hard of hearing individuals experienced some communication struggles at the dining table during their childhood or even their adulthood. This is not new or a hot topic but rather, this phenomenon is simply brought to our attention in creating necessary resources and promoting the awareness about language deprivation. It also created an opportunity that we can educate people about the benefits of learning American Sign Language, or even a visual language. Educating yourself and being humbly aware of around you are encouraged. To learn more about the DTS, the links are at the end of this article.
Without a further ado, turning the DTS into a one-page game was thought-provoking that had me think over how I want to make it educational and fun. Recounting what I used during my family gathering helped me develop some tables and narratives. Combining the narratives with the DTS, I came up with the struggle rating, which is similar to the difficulty rating. I picked a word, “struggle” because of the language barrier erected between the individuals and their families with communication difficulties. Then I used inspiration from the game, City of Mist’s cinematic actions to create the cinematic points that allow you to build up the scenes. I wanted the game to be adjustable however long you want to continue playing. Last but not least, an option, “Mind Break” was a nice addition I thought of because it is stressful to navigate the social cues from the families while stuck at someone’s house.
The game is made free to share with you. Although it is designed to reflect the D/HH community’s experience, I also can see it similar to those with different languages going through communication challenges.
Footnotes:
Deaf-led organizations
The American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (ADARA)
Note: There are more than five organizations above - they are curated based on what I know so far. I encourage checking out if there is one near where you live and support deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Links
“Dinner Table Syndrome” anthology features contributions from faculty and alumni
Why 'Dinner Table Syndrome' is getting worse for deaf people
