Games
Serious games are games created to tackle real-world problems in a playful but structured way. They combine fun and interactive elements with opportunities to learn and practice problem-solving. To be effective, the design of these games needs to match both the research goals and the interests of the people involved. Often, they are developed together with stakeholders, which helps make the games realistic and creates space for discussion and collaboration between different groups.
TransfUrban
A board game that helps stakeholders explore trade-offs in urban transformation processes. Stakeholders may include residents, landowners, municipalities, sustainability experts, and housing cooperatives. Each with their own objectives, economic situation, and knowledge, they work on the overall goal of developing attractive neighbourhoods in a simulated planning process, whilst maintaining high levels of public approval. The game was tested for neighbourhoods in Hochdorf (Switzerland) and Helsinki (Finland), which showed that it is generalizable: game-structure and content can be adapted to other contexts.
planners, developers, public authorities, students, researchers
4-8 players
1 hour play-time
(3 hours for full workshop including introduction and debriefing)
Steakholder
The game explores meat policies at the European Union level. Each member state decides its national food system and negociate EU-scale policies. In the
meantime, pro and anti-meat lobbies use their influence and best arguments to steer member state policies.
Organizations involved in food system transition, researchers and university students in Policies, Agriculture and rural development, Food system, Nutrition, Animal studies.
6 - 21 players
3 hours
Swiss Energy Transition
The game covers the energy transition towards renewable energy in Switzerland. Public and private actors must navigate the Federal, Cantonal and municipal administrative and democratic procedures to implement (or not...) solar and wind energy installations.
Swiss municipalities and canton administrations, University students, General
public (18+)
6 - 12 players
3 hours
Game of Cruxes
Players manage families livelihoods and the collective life of a touristic mountain valley confronted with global changes, while trying to implement their vision for 2050. The game is based on two french communities (Villar-d'Arêne and La Grave) but is playable for any mountainous and touristic community in the Alps.
Alpine communities facing tourism, general public interested to experience the challenges of such commnunities (general public, high school and academia)
4 - 8 players
2 hours
Tantan'Eau
TANTAN’EAU – a wordplay merging «Tantano» (to manage in Malagasy) and «Eau» (water in French) – is a game that helps decision-makers explore flood risk management.
Designed to balance playability and realism, it immerses players in the future development of Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. Although the game is grounded in the context of Antananarivo, it reflects the challenges of many flood-prone cities in the Global South.
Decision-makers, university students, general public (+18) interested in flood management in the Global South.
4 - 8 players
3 hours