Gaming for the commons

serious games ⬢ online repository

Do you want to learn more about the commons? Serious gaming is a great way to do so! This collaborative knowledge base contains examples of commons-oriented games and customisations of traditional games that help explore and ‘live’ the concept of commons. Most of the games listed are available through Creative Commons-licenses.

More about the subdivision of games, our research and our game nights

 

Games

Select the commons-related feature you are interested in

  • Introduction to key concepts
  • Exchange views and information
  • Broadcast a message
  • Training
  • Reflect on resources management
  • Reach a consensus
  • Promote cooperation
  • Feel sense of community

Commonspoly

Free licensed board game to turn private and public resources into commons
Broadcast a message, Promote cooperation

Redesire

Digital interactive multiplayer game to make urban planning relatable and reveal preferences
Exchange views and information, Promote cooperation, Feel sense of community

Dixit (customisation)

Storytelling card game to match draws with sentences
Exchange views and information, Training

Concept (customisation)

Board game to guess words through association, using universal icons
Exchange views and information, Training

PlayDecide

Open access card game to facilitate informed social debates around complex issues
Introduction to key concepts, Exchange views and information, Reach a consensus

ISSE Game

Decision-making game to reflect on the social and ethical aspects of an organisation
Introduction to key concepts, Training, Reflect on resources management

The Free Culture Game

Free licensed virtual game to reflect on the importance of understanding knowledge as a commons
Introduction to key concepts, Broadcast a message

Le Grand Jeu

Future-thinking game to create and simulate ideas for our future society - whether large or small
Introduction to key concepts, Reach a consensus, Promote cooperation

Broken cities

City-building game about the costs of climate change adaptation versus mitigation
Exchange views and information, Broadcast a message, Reflect on resources management

People Power Game

Free licensed virtual game about civil resistance and nonviolent movements
Exchange views and information, Broadcast a message, Training

Affordable Housing Game

Policy-making game to develop an implementable agenda for affordable housing
Introduction to key concepts, Exchange views and information, Training

Wat-A-Game

Participatory modelling game to facilitate a dialogue regarding water management
Exchange views and information, Training, Reflect on resources management

Go2Zero

Role-playing game to facilitate energy transition decision-making on city level
Exchange views and information, Reflect on resources management, Promote cooperation

Disaster Detector

Virtual game to tackle natural disasters on city level through scientific data and citizen knowledge
Training, Reflect on resources management

Cultural Memory Game

Printable board game to experience the value of remembering past crises to foster community resilience
Broadcast a message, Feel sense of community

For Gaming for the commons, we received a Democracy Needs Imagination grant from the European Cultural Foundation, as they support culture for an open, inclusive and democratic Europe. They connect people to people, grassroots to policy, and the local to the European.