New Gamification Tools

As I am last couple of years interested in gamification methods for creating projects and curating exhibitions, as well as working on participation of the audiences, I always search for new toys, ops tools for delving into the processes of tinkering and idea making. Recently I started to study online UX (User Experience) Design in order to enhance the way I create my projects, either within the project management or as a simple weekend project to stretch my grey cells with some new idea or electronic object.

Here are some of the gems in this area I stumbled upon in October and November – to be considered the darkest months of the whole year, or maybe not. So, let’s see what do we have here:

The Start-up Game cards (I’ve found this last October at the Museum Shop in the Science Centre NEMO in Amsterdam). The game is interesting and it directs you through project creating.

Then I was very happy to find out during November that my colleague Jasper Visser, whom I know from a project Creative Museum, is launching a workbook entitled ‘Quantum Culture – A practical method for strategy development in the age of open source culture’, based on gamification and design thinking with his peer Eric Schilp, both of Vissch+Stam strategic services. I ordered it immediately as it was published because knowing for years Jasper’s methods which are very playful it seemed to me as a good choice for anyone willing to enhance running an organization or a project with gaming flavours.

Here’s a video presenting the workbook:

Order it here, warmly recommending:
https://visschstam.com/quantumculture

The third gamification tool is by LEGO Foundation and is currently not available for free sale. I had an opportunity to see this kit during my second visit to Netherlands in October, a fascinating Dutch month indeed. It’s called a LEGO Creativity Explorer Kit and it has been developed in collaboration with teachers, educators, creative thinkers, cultural workers and entrepreneurs in order to use the blocks for solution making. For this I decided to make my own DIY version of the kit and I ordered exact parts and circa matching colours from Toypro.

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Photos: body.pixel (cc)

As you can see from the photos, each block has a specific term written on it like Share, Listen, Reflect, Dare, Wonder, Imagine, Test, Take Apart, and you decide what do you want to build or what do you want to solve or rethink with a specific structure you are creating. LEGO is hard to resist, I have to admit, but I find it a very useful method to build something and having less words to use in order to explain the situation. Or just for mindful playing.