Leadership and citizen skills played out in a game

What is the project?

“World of the Communities is the first Ukrainian multiplayer co-op strategy board game, which closely models real life and real decision-making, conflict-resolution and community development.  This game tool is designed and developed by World of Communities LLC – EdTech company from Ukraine that develops educational serious games and gamification solutions for better community development & engagement.”

What was the main purpose of this project?

“The project “World of Communities” has two main purposes:

•  to create an educational tool for developing skills that usually cannot be learned and formed by MOOCs or other online services, such as cooperation, communication, citizenship, complex problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership, lifelong learning, end trust;
• to develop a national network of facilitators who use serious games and gamification in the field of community development and adult education.

Our Motto is “Learn What You Can’t Google”

Why did you choose the game as a learning approach?
“Instead of considering some people as passive, inert and incompetent it is better to support them with an efficient tool of active participation and engagement, replace ordinary boring approaches to community development and the implementation of reforms, and respond to social demand for modernization. One of the best ways to do this is gamification and board game-simulators.”

Some elements of the game

How did the project foster the life skills approach?

“The game is aimed to improve 3 types of skills:

• learning skills (critical thinking, ability to solve complex tasks, ability to read carefully and quickly analyze new information);
• life skills (flexibility, social interaction, leadership);
• civic skills (financial literacy, tax and political culture).

Several iterations of game playing help to reveal leaders in a team, involve all the team members in decision-making and improve the professional skills of community development specialists. According to a customer feedback survey, 77% of players noticed their professional development, 71% admitted a deeper understanding of the context. For 52% of players, the game was useful due to leadership skills development and increased level of engagement in community life.

We recommend doing between 10 to 15 game sessions to see the results and combine game training with activities in everyday real life.”

The board game “World of communities” was our instrument to explore the benefits one could achieve after creating customized version of a gamification educational tool for their organization.

How is the game beneficial for organizations and communities?

“Among other benefits, the game allows to better understand the internal organization processes and the role of different stakeholders in the context of the whole system. The game is very helpful to HR specialists as people in the game tend to show their hidden side. In addition, the tool could be used without a special trainer or coach and it takes a convenient form of a compact board game.”