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Pursuing the Dream is a strategy roleplaying game about higher education and is set in the fictional state of Deseret. While the names of very real towns, cities, and villages, have been used, they have been used quite liberally, meaning they may not correspond to their real-world geographies, among other things. It is best to remember this is a game, and, as such, to avoid being overly technical with the geographies present on the game board.
Every dream must start somewhere: Every year, millions of college-age Americans pursue the dream of higher education, which comes with a promise of finding living wages, stability, and upward mobility. While many problematic narratives concerning higher education are fraught with their usual clichés of incompetent administrators and administrative bloat, absentee staff, and aloof adjuncts, instructors, and professors, these same narratives often miss the higher callings and idealism that are associated with higher education in America.
Pursuing the Dream is about understanding what it takes to tackle these higher callings and idealism that often come with higher education in America. The narratives you'lll find in this game are tales of hard-fought battles between higher education administrators and state legislators to make eeducation more equitable and responsive to student needs. The narratives shown here will show higher education is a worthwhile (and often frustrating) collective effort, one made possible by administrators, staff, faculty, students, and even members of the community. Higher education, while imperfect and still in need of tender loving care (TLC), from time to time, is rarely stuck in stasus. Innovation, leadership, and community building for future problems, for those wicked problems, are at the heart of any institution of higher learning. That means change is an inevitable part of life and work in higher education in America.
As the student loan and enrollment crises loom and existential threats crop up, higher education is at a crossroads in the early twenty-first century. While higher education can be innovative, it can also stifle innovation among its ranks. Leadership sometimes falls falt, and the communities higher education institutions serve are left scrambling for much needed guidance and leadership. The horror stories don't stop there, however. Institutions of higher learning have a lot to contend with—good, bad, and ugly.
In Pursuing the Dream, players must find a way forward for their respective institutions of higher learning. They must work together. They must be innovative. They must think outside of the box, as cliché as it sounds. Players will need to find a future place for their institutions of higher learning, all the while ensuring students, for decades to come, can pursue their dreams of living wage jobs, stability, and upward mobility. In essence, colleges and universities are attempts to fulfill a promise made long ago, concerning life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Higher callings and idealism are often ignored when organizations become part of industries or sectors. They lose their why. They simply produce, without care, and the products produced, and the consumers and communities they serve, tend to suffer as a result. Here you all are, coming together for the future of higher education, and, more importantly, to discover the why of higher education.
You all are here to make the dream come true.
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