The Serious Games Podcast

Hanan Sabry designs conversation boards in Cairo, and GLUCOSE draws on Barbara Fredrickson's research on positive emotions: seven letters, seven emotions, and a die with only six faces, because everyone starts with gratitude. Mohnish Jadwani, an independent software consultant and team coach, facilitates Hanan's games in Germany, where a spoken pledge creates safety before anyone shares. The refra...

Sabina Lammert of leadventure in Munich built Challenge it! after watching the same thing happen at the end of every workshop: six hours of good thinking, then one exhausted final hour that produces action points like "let's improve our communication". Her game hands the coaching questions to the participants, who rate each other's actions on a one to ten scale of gut feeling, then talk each other...

Edwin de Vos owns The Management Challenge and Hidde de Jong stopped teaching and now plays it with his Business Continuity students at Saxion in Deventer. Teams run a fictional company on ten energy points a quarter, pick from over a hundred measures, and get feedback that always lands one quarter late. The reframe: the facilitator's job is to wait to be asked, because the struggle is where the l...

Sylvia Taylor designed the Adaptive Identity Game after her third layoff. Three decks, one partner, and a single rule: your job title is banned. The reframe: adaptability is not about becoming someone else, it is about expanding who you already are.

Eli Godde and Gaëlle Shearn facilitate The Glorious 2030s, a French-born conversational workshop that drops participants into a utopian future through guided meditation, three personal questions on a pocket-sized blue card, and oracle cards featuring real initiatives already underway today. The reframe: utopia is not a destination but a muscle, and training it with strangers in a room for three ho...

Adam Lusby and Maarten Koeners explain why Playposium has no published minute-by-minute schedule, how a vegan vampire dinner replaces awkward conference networking, and what happens when you stop teaching the dance moves and start DJing the room.

Are we alone in the universe? For decades, that question has been tackled with complex formulas. Drake’s Dice flips the experience: you explore the Drake Equation through dice, risk, peer review, and discovery cards, without doing any math. Game designer Daniel Larose shares how he and Alissa Pott built a science outreach board game designed to stand on its own at home, while staying grounded thro...

The Serious Play Conference comes to Europe for the first time. Dr. Philipp Busch, co-organizer of the first European edition in Mainz, unpacks what it takes to move game-based learning from niche enthusiasm to cross-sector cultural change — and what happens when the right people finally share a room.

The Climate Business Challenge helps organizations link climate ambition with real business constraints instead of feel‑good wishful thinking. Creator Tim Riedel and facilitator Jan Störkel explain how their 4‑hour workshop moves from systemic awareness (how our economic system drives growth at all costs) to redesigning business models and generating concrete, organizations‑specific ideas.

CounterPlay is a playful festival and global community that invites adults to reclaim play as a way of living, learning, and being together. In this episode, founder Mathias Poulsen shares how building a “play commons” gives us the courage to unhide play in everyday life – from libraries and design schools to horses, soap bubbles, and serious work.

Jussi Galla and Wiro Kuipers join Julian to unpack Topaasia® – a card-based gamified dialogue tool that gets any group to the one thing that actually matters, in just 75 minutes. No dominant voices. No endless stickies. Just one rule, one topic, and the "alibi" as built-in design feature, which gives people permission to raise the topics they have always been too cautious to name. If you've ever l...

Lucy Chambers joins Julian to explore how playful word games like Poetry for Neanderthals can help teams break down jargon, foster empathy, and create more inclusive communication. Drawing on her journey from “word nerd” outsider in tech to facilitation expert, Lucy shares practical ways to make language accessible, fun, and meaningful for everyone at work.

Pen & Paper is more than just a game for Irmi. In this episode she reveals how the magic of tabletop roleplaying games can spark trust, creativity, and genuine transformation in teams. Experience how storytelling and playful immersion break down barriers, ignite emotional connection, and inspire teams to grow beyond their comfort zones.

Moonshot transforms innovation from a rigid, post-it-laden process into a playful, immersive experience. Co-creator Till Hasbach reveals how this “innovation lab in a box” helps teams break out of their routines, embrace chaos, and generate truly groundbreaking ideas. Through game mechanics, creative constraints, and collaborative prototyping, Moonshot empowers participants to think bigger, laugh...

Strategy Knotworking is a playful, inclusive approach to strategy development rooted in Liberating Structures. Christian explains how this method transcends rigid planning by involving all stakeholders to co-create a meaningful North Star, adapt to multiple possible futures, and facilitate genuinely participatory workshops.

ScrumTale is a serious game that uses collaborative crime story writing to teach Scrum principles. Co-creator Przemek Witka explains how this simulation mirrors software development challenges (like integration and quality assurance) making it a one-of-its-kind engaging learning experience.

Edu-LARPing immerses adults in role-play to learn, practice boundaries, confront triggers, and explore emotions. Hear from Consultant Meghan Gardner on why it's the pinnacle of experiential learning and knowledge transfer.

Eine antarktische Forschungsstation, 12 Teammitglieder a Board und jede Menge Forschungsaufgaben sowie Herausforderungen - das ist “Eternal Ice”, das kooperative Online-Serious-Game für Teams.

T-Shaping in Teams spielerisch sichtbar machen – das ist das "House von Santa Claus". Teilnehmende erleben wie sich spezifische Skills, Urlaub und die ungeübte Hand auf Ergebnisse, Dynamik und Fokus auswirken.

Erfahre im Gespräch mit Janek, wie Gamification und Spielmechaniken deine Lernformate bereichern und soziale Interaktionen fördern. Entdecke drei Ebenen der Gamification und erhalte Tipps zur Spieleauswahl und zum effektiven Einsatz für Reflexion und Lernen.

Rob Alvarez Bucholska interviews Chris Caswell and Julian Kea on transforming your debriefing with #TheDebriefingCube. This tool enhances your skills and increases the value of your exercises and games. Participants will experience a significant boost in their learning and initiate change through shared experiences. You can access this powerful tool by downloading PDFs in multiple languages or ord...

“Needs & Narratives - The Empathy Experiment” zielt darauf ab, Empathie zu trainieren. Die Spielenden werden zu Forschenden und Versuchspersonen, hören aktiv zu, entschlüsseln dabei erfüllte und unerfüllte Bedürfnisse und teilen ihre Selbst- und Fremdeinschätzung miteinander. Alex hat ein Spiel kreiert, das in kurzer Zeit tiefgehende und bedeutungsvolle Gespräche ermöglicht.

An easy-to-setup game to experience work-in-progress limits and other Kanban practices and Lean principles.

Ein Kartenspiel, das die Erkenntnisse des Weltklimarats IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climat Change) spielerisch vermittelt, um das wandelnde Klimasystem besser zu verstehen und Klimaschutzmaßnahmen zu ergreifen – das kann das Klima Puzzle.

Pitch Your Green Idea! – ein Brett-Planspiel für kreative Lösungen für drängende gesellschaftliche und ökologische Probleme und für spannende Gespräche rund um Nachhaltigkeit und Unternehmensführung.