You Are Invited To

Invent a Game.

Inspire a Movement.

Join a hands-on design workshop to co-create "The Being Well Heroes End Game"—a new serious game to tackle the world's complex challenges.

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.

Session 1: Foundation & World-Building – All Aboard Spaceship Earth

Objective: To establish 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.

Activities:

• Welcome to Spaceship Earth: We begin with an immersive introduction to the concept of our planet as a complex, shared spaceship with no instruction manual.

• Understanding the Ship's Systems (Polycrisis Mapping): Guided by the foundational research of the Tackling the Polycrisis group at Utrecht University, we will map the interconnected challenges facing our ship. This activity will draw insights from everyone's work on navigating complex global crises.

• Defining the "Operating Manual": As a group, we will craft a powerful vision statement for the game. What does a successful "End Game" for Spaceship Earth look like? What transformation will our players and the crew experience?

• World-Building Brainstorm: We will generate the first creative sparks for the game's aesthetic, atmosphere, and narrative context within our Spaceship Earth setting.

Outcomes:

• A clear Vision Statement to serve as our design compass.

• A set of defined "Player Impact Goals" for the crew's journey.

• Core themes and narrative concepts for the game, grounded in established theory.

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 innovative game mechanics that simulate complex systems and encourage collaboration.

• Core Loop Design: In teams, we will sketch the primary gameplay loop. What does the crew do moment-to-moment? (e.g., Respond to System Alert -> Deploy Resources -> Collaborate on a Solution -> See Impact on Game world).

• Game Element Ideation: We'll generate a library of essential game components, such as "Planetary Vitals," "Crew Talents," "Innovation Cards," and "Wellbeing Resources."

• Layering the Play: We will design the different layers of interaction, from individual players duties to collaborative "all-hands-on-deck" missions.

Outcomes:

• A defined core gameplay loop for managing the game world.

• A comprehensive set of ideas for game mechanics, components, and resources.

• A conceptual map detailing the game's interconnected interactive layers.

Session 3: Prototyping & Playtesting – First Mission to win the End Game

Objective: To synthesize our ideas into a low-fidelity, playable prototype and gather immediate feedback through live playtesting. Our final question is: Is our game engaging, understandable, and impactful for its crew?

Activities:

• Rapid Prototyping Jam: Using paper, cards, and other simple materials, each team will build a physical, playable version of their game.

• Guided Playtesting: Teams will swap prototypes and become the first-ever crew members of each other's games, providing crucial feedback on the experience.

• Feedback & Iteration: We will conclude with a structured feedback loop to identify what works, what needs improvement, and what excites people the most about their experience of the game world.

Outcomes:

• A tangible, low-fidelity, and playable prototype for "The Being Well Heroes End Game."

• Valuable, firsthand feedback from our first playtesting session.

• A prioritized list of next steps to refine the prototype and advance the game's development.

Practicalities:

Time and duration: The workshop is planned for October-November, each session is planned to be around three hours.

Mode: First two sessions are planned online, the last session will be in person. Hybrid sessions might be offered based on availability.

Pre-registration: Please fill in the pre-registration form to allow us plan and finalise the logistics of the workshop. We will communicate final details with pre-registered participants.

Our Foundation & Partners

This workshop is proudly hosted by Being Well Catalysts, an initiative dedicated to fostering systemic change for a healthier world. Our conceptual framework is inspired by the visionary work of Buckminster Fuller and informed by our collaboration with the Tackling the Polycrisis research group at Utrecht University (uu.nl/en/research/sustainability/tackling-the-polycrisis) and their insightful publications on the topic.

Workshop Fee: Pay-It-Forward by Donation

There is no fixed fee to attend this workshop. Instead, we invite participants to make a donation based on what they can afford and the value they receive. All contributions will fund producing and testing the new game. The game is to be sold only as a non-profit, with revenue going  to cover costs, and other relevant Being Well Catalysts activities.