Gaming our Future - Serious Games

This is part two of a three-part series of workshops. Each workshop is independent, and you can join all or one of them.
Join us for a hands-on, three-part design workshop where we will collaboratively invent "The Being Well Heroes End Game." Hosted by Being Well Catalysts, facilitators of systemic wellbeing and transformative change, this is a unique opportunity to build a serious game from the ground up.
Our mission is to create an engaging experience that empowers players to understand, navigate, and positively influence the complex challenges of the global polycrisis. We will ground our game world in a powerful, unifying concept: Buckminster Fuller's "Spaceship Earth," envisioning our planet as a shared, finite vessel that we must steward together.
Based on our earlier game; "The Wellbeing Heroes Order: Saving the Wellbeing Utopia", and facilitated by experienced systems and design thinking experts, this interactive series will guide us through a structured, creative process. Together, we will progress from a foundational concept to a playable model, defining the game's core mechanics and interactive elements, all aimed at fostering wellbeing and heroic agency for the crew of Spaceship Earth.
The Overall Goal:
To co-design and prototype "The Being Well Heroes: End Game," a new serious game set on Spaceship Earth. Through these three sessions, we will transform complex, real-world challenges into a playable experience that fosters collaboration, systems thinking, and a shared sense of responsibility for our collective future.
During first session, we discussed the core vision, purpose, and foundational world of the game, using Buckminster Fuller's concepts of "Spaceship Earth" as our starting point and grounding our understanding of the "polycrisis" in leading academic research.

### Session 2: Mechanics & Elements – Designing the Gameplay

Objective: To translate our vision into tangible game mechanics, player actions, and the core elements of managing Spaceship Earth. This session answers: How does the crew interact with the ship's systems to create positive change?
Activities:

• Inspiration Showcase: We'll explore suggested game worlds based on the first session, and examples of a few games mechanics that simulate complex systems and encourage collaboration.
• Short discussion of stakeholders, and power dynamics behind the polycrisis, facilitated by academic researchers on the topic from Utrecht University.
• Core Loop Design: In teams, we will sketch the primary gameplay loop. Who are the crew? Who are the bosses/friends/enemies? What are their skills and powers? What does the crew do moment-to-moment? (e.g., Respond to System Alert -> Deploy Resources -> Collaborate on a Solution).
• Game Element Ideation: We'll generate a library of essential game components, such as "Crew Talents," "Cards," and "Resources."
• Brainstorm game layers and dynamics: We will design the different layers of interaction, from individual players duties to collaborative "all-hands-on-deck" missions.

The workshop starts at 14:00 CET.
Part 2 will be only online.

Please note that this is part of a series of three events. No need to attend all of them, but they build on each other.
Both first and second sessions are online, while the third session (Playing the game) will be in person. Third session date will be agreed in discussion with the session two participants.
Learn more about the project: https://www.bwcatalysts.com/projects-and-impact/workshops-and-activities/serious-games-and-simulations/end-game