A most delightful way to get work done: serious games for policymaking

Why you should be thinking about using games in policymaking environments 

In every job that must be done 
There is an element of fun 
You find the fun and snap! 
The job's a game 

These lines from the song “A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins might be about getting children to take their medicine, but the sentiments actually apply really well to our work here at the EU Policy Lab! We often seek to make our interactions lively and enjoyable, knowing that having fun is a great way to cement learning. 

This is why I started with the idea of fun when I gave a keynote on the role of serious games in policymaking at the FWD50 conference in Ottawa, Canada earlier this month.  

In many workplaces, having fun and being playful are seen as frivolous or time-wasting. But we know that a game that combines fun, play and purpose can be a very powerful tool for unlocking insights, creating trust and safety within a team and encouraging experimentation and creativity. 

Purpose is of course a very important element of this formula. It’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with the game or activity. In my talk I identified a few (non-exhaustive!) examples of purposes for the games that we have developed: 

• Engagement: games can be a great way to experience the methods we use in the Lab, to experience them in a short timeframe and without the pressure and commitment of a specific project.
• Collaboration: many of the games we have created are co-operative – nobody wins at the end. They rather encourage people to think about how to work with others, for example to identify and then achieve a common goal.
• Perspective change: as policymakers, we are acting for many different groups of people. Games can help us experience a topic from other perspectives, helping to create a broader view and deeper empathy when it comes to working on the topic back at the office.
• Testing and iteration: games give participants a low-stakes environment in which to test, make mistakes, learn, try again and experiment with new concepts.
• Pedagogy: games can be a great way to learn about a topic or concept, cementing that learning in a different way.
• Exploration: games can encourage us to explore topics differently. We can have conversations on difficult topics while remaining playful. We can understand systems better, identify leverage and inflection points, flag possible unintended consequences and surface important “what if?” questions. 

On the first evening of the conference, I co-hosted a Games Night, where we made available several policy-oriented games, some developed by us, some elsewhere. Judging by the reaction of those that came along, having a chance to sit and play the games really brought home to them how impactful they can be. The laughter coming from all the tables confirmed that the fun part was present, and several people remarked afterwards how the conversations prompted by the different games had been very rich and far-reaching, as well as fun. 

So the next time you need to tap into the creativity of a group of people, why not think about using a game? I’ll put links to some of ours below. 

Don’t hesitate to  jrc-eu-policy-labec [dot] europa [dot] eu (share with us) games that you think work well in a policymaking context!  

• FutureGov
• Scenario Exploration System
• Water Reflections game
• Horizon Scanning Cards