Retro Game for Creativity

We have been focusing on using retro games to inspire and encourage creativity and innovation lately. What retro games or game systems did you enjoy the most? To narrow the focus let's look at games and systems from the 70s to 80s first. #gamebasedlearning #retrogames #retrosystems #learning

5 Reasons Why Board Games Are Better for Families

Playing video games can be a great way to bond with your kids and teach them valuable skills like perseverance. However, there are also some potential downsides to screen time, such as increased risk of obesity, sleep problems, and social isolation. Board games offer a number of benefits :

  • Improved social skills: Board games require players to interact with each other, which can help them develop communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution skills.

  • Increased physical activity: Some board games, such as dexterity games, require players to move around and use their bodies. This can help reduce sedentary behavior and improve physical fitness.

  • Enhanced cognitive development: Board games can help improve problem-solving, critical thinking, and strategic thinking skills.

  • Boosted creativity: Some board games require players to use their imaginations to solve puzzles or create stories. This can help foster creativity and imagination.

  • Reduced screen time: Board games are a great way to get kids away from screens and enjoy face-to-face interaction.

Here are some specific examples of board games that offer the benefits mentioned above:

  • Cooperative games: These games require players to work together to achieve a common goal. This can help improve teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. Some popular cooperative games include Pandemic, The Resistance, and Mysterium.

  • Dexterity games: These games require players to use their hands and fingers to manipulate game pieces. This can help improve hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and reaction time. Some popular dexterity games include Rhino Hero, Tumbling Tower, and Ice Cool.

  • Strategy games: These games require players to think ahead and make strategic decisions. This can help improve problem-solving, critical thinking, and planning skills. Some popular strategy games include Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and 7 Wonders.

  • Party games: These games are designed to be fun and social. They can help improve communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution skills. Some popular party games include Codenames, The Resistance, and Tokaido.

Rhino Hero, The Resistance, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride board games

Game-based learning examples

Game-based learning can encompass a wide variety of games, ranging from simple educational apps to complex simulations. Some of the most popular games used for game-based learning include:
- Minecraft
- Civilization
- SimCity
- Second Life
- Assassin’s Creed
- World of Warcraft
- Age of Empires
- The Sims

Have you tried any of them?

Ticket to Ride board game

Learn sustainability through games

Here is a link to some fun board games created to introduce sustainability concepts and ideas to the public. Learn more about how we can be more sustainable as well as environmental issues through this fun approach - what’s more, they are free! They were created by some universities and even a government agency. https://www.urbanworks.cca.edu/win-win-board-games

Playing Flip this Hood

Gamification in Education: Learning Through Play

Gamification has become quite a buzzword. It refers to the practice of incorporating game elements and mechanics into non-game contexts, such as education. Gamification in education has gained popularity because it makes learning more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable.

At its core, gamification in education is about learning through play. By incorporating game elements like points, levels, badges, and rewards, educators can make learning more fun and motivate learners to actively participate in the learning process.

One of the key benefits of gamification in education is increased learner engagement. When learners are engaged in the learning process, they are more likely to retain information and apply it in practical situations. This is because they are more focused, motivated, and interested in the content they are learning.

Gamification can also help to create a sense of competition and collaboration among learners. When game elements like points, levels, and rewards are incorporated, learners are motivated to compete with each other and work together to achieve common goals. This can lead to increased teamwork, communication, and social skills.

Another benefit of gamification in education is that it can help to personalize learning. By incorporating game elements, educators can create customized learning paths and experiences for each learner based on their interests, strengths, and weaknesses. This can lead to more effective and efficient learning outcomes.

Overall, gamification in education has the potential to transform the way we teach and learn. By incorporating game elements and mechanics into education, we can make learning more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable. This can lead to increased learner engagement, collaboration, and personalized learning experiences.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's gamify education and start learning through play!

The Descent of the Serpent

Google’s Arts & Culture division has released a charming new educational game all about ancient Mesoamerica. The game, The Descent of the Serpent, is available to play right now in your browser or via the Google Arts & Culture iOS and Android apps.

There’s a light plot to Descent of the Serpent, shown in a short video that plays at the beginning of the game. While exploring a museum, a large artifact is stolen by Tezcatlipoca, the Lord of the Smoking Mirror, and a living statue asks for your help to recover 20 icons included on the artifact to prevent floods from taking over the world. You, naturally, agree, and the statue says they’ll send you back in time to ancient Mesoamerica.

You’ll be able to pick from one of four adorable animal “disguises” for your characters that all have roots in Mesoamerican culture. I picked Huitzilopochtli, represented by the wolf, but you can also play as Xolotl (the dog), Xbalanque (the jaguar), and Mictlantecuhtli (the owl).

Game-based learning with the CIA

Dungeons and Dragons, Pokémon card games and role-playing games are more than entertainment -- they're inspiration for the CIA. David Clopper, senior collection analyst with 16 years' experience at the CIA, also serves as a game maker for the agency. From card games to board games, Clopper creates games to train CIA staffers including intelligence officers and political analysts for real-world situations.

"Gaming is part of the human condition. Why not take advantage of that and incorporate into the way we learn?" Clopper said Sunday at a games-themed panel discussion at the South by Southwest Interactive technology festival. Clopper and other CIA officers discussed how the agency uses games to teach strategy, intelligence gathering and collaboration.

https://money.cnn.com/2017/03/13/technology/cia-board-games-training/index.html

#experientiallearning #learnbydoing #gamification #gamebasedlearning @JJFSThinkLab

Games in learning

I’m happy to see that the Agile Alliance (the OG Agile group that started the Agile Manifesto) has decided to use gaming as an instructional form in their most recent newsletter. Check out this link to see what types of games you can register for to learn more effectively about team-based decision making, visioning and creativity in the Agile way.

Creating creativity

Is necessity the mother of invention? During global crises, humanity has shown we can solve seemly impossible challenges. A dangerous pandemic that will wipe out many people? – hey, we were able to create an innovative vaccine mRNA, launch and distribute to the majority of humans within a year. With that kind of collective brainpower and innovation, why haven’t we “solved” some older medical issues like malaria, dengue or even tuberculosis? We could even prevented the earth from being destroyed by a huge asteroid by drilling a hole and dropping a bomb in the asteroid – ok, ok, the last one was just a Bruce Willis movie.

I guess the trick is for companies and leaders to instil a belief of necessity in our work to get the team to not only work well but be creative? What would you do to create a sense of necessity at your workplace?

#creativity #innovation #experimental #necessity #jjfsThinkLab

Encouraging entrepreneurship with Legos

Singaporeans are not widely know as risk-takers with entrepreneurial talent – although ironically Singapore has been listed as one of the top countries for with a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. Is there a way to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship in our organisations as creativity and innovation are the drivers of our future?

We can do so using Legos. By getting staff to build with Legos, we are instilling an experimental mindset and a “never-say-die” spirit to strive for creating that important build. Legos can easily be reused and remodeled to change the build, encouraging one to try and try again. What were some of your favorite Lego sessions and what did you build?

#creativity #legos #innovation #entrepreneurship #experimental #legobuild #jjfsThinkLab

skillsfuture ssg creativity game session entrepreneurship legos

Building entrepreneurship through the Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle

Engine Building games - Terraforming Mars

Engine Building games are games where you start off with almost nothing and use the little you have to build up slowly. By the end of the game, you will have built a system that generates whatever it is you need to win the game. Engine building games are characterized by players buying or building up resources that allow them to gain even more currency or resources.

Terraforming Mars takes is one of my top engine-building board game due to its mechanics. Each player takes on the role of a corporation tasked with – surpise! terraforming Mars. Each player’s corporation is represented by their own player board and as the game progresses, they’ll build up the infrastructure necessary to change the Red Planet into a much more livable green and blue one. Are you going to collect microbes and animals? Or perhaps work on generating the most plants and foresting the planet? Or is it all about getting the Terraforming Ratings up as quick as possible so you can build those big point cards with ease later in the game? The player with the highest Terraform Rating and the most victory points at the end of the game wins!

This is a highly strategic type of game since choices made early in the game have a snowball effect over the rest of the game. So if you are looking for a teaching point about strategic planning, systems thinking, analytical skills and even decision making abilities, these would be highly ideal. Which are your favorite type of engine building games?

#enginebuilding #tableaubuilding #experientiallearning #learnbydoing #skillsfuture #ssg #strategicgames #systemsthining #analyticalskills #decisionmaking #gamebasedlearning @JJFSThinkLab

skillsfuture ssg gamebasedlearning terraforming mars

Let’s terraform Mars and learn how to think more strategically!

Engine Building Games

Engine Building or Tableau Building games are games where you start off with almost nothing and use the little you have to build up slowly. By the end of the game, you will have built a system that generates whatever it is you need to win the game. Engine building games are characterized by players buying or building up resources that allow them to gain even more currency or resources. The name comes from the idea that players are building an engine which will produce points later in the game and escalate when you feed those points it produces back into the engine. Some of the best examples of modern engine building games are:

Wingspan

Terraforming Mars

Scythe

Splendor

The Castles of Burgundy

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Puerto Rico

These are all highly strategic type of games since choices made early in the game have a snowball effect over the rest of the game. So if you are looking for a teaching point about strategic planning, systems thinking, analytical skills and even decision making abilities, these would be highly ideal. Which are your favorite type of engine building games?

#enginebuilding #tableaubuilding #experientiallearning #learnbydoing #skillsfuture #ssg #strategicgames #systemsthining #analyticalskills #decisionmaking #gamebasedlearning @JJFSThinkLab

skillsfuture ssg gamebasedlearning enginebuilding gaming

An engine building game in session!

Creating creativity

One of the most common questions asked when I am training creativity is how can we be more creative? I believe true creativity comes from a change in our mindset and we can all achieve that if we start by doing small things like changing our habits. If we are able to “break” from some routines, we will be on our way to being a master of creativity.

Start today by finding out what routines we have – and simply make changes. For example, try taking the bus or train to work instead of driving. Since you are not forced to focus on traffic, you may notice many new and different things which may spur you to think of some new ideas for work with a more relaxed commute or may be speak to someone on your way to work that may open up new possibilities! Go ahead and try “breaking” your habits and share what you will do differently today!

#creativity #breakhabits #innovation #mentalagility #learning #different #jjfsThinkLab

skillsfuture ssg gamebasedlearning taketrain creativity

Taking the train to improve creativity!

Back in the office?

Your team is supposed to be back to the office and they are dreading it? Start a fun activity to re-bond the team like a creative session or energizer going! You can spark a productivity or creativity session by engaging in some stimulating activities at work like a gaming lunch session or a breakfast energizer! Start work right and speak to us on a trial session on how to implement these team building sessions.

#experientiallearning #creativity #energizer #producitivy #backtotheoffice #boardgames #cardgames JJFS ThinkLab

skillsfuture ssg creativity game session engagement

Having an energizing session through gaming when back in the office helps bond teams