Gamestorming

When to Use it ?
 Gamestorming

A set of co-creation tools to foster Ideas generation to

support problem solving;

VIDEO
Phases
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Before starting the Game you should define what is the target state
and your initial state.

Target State: What is expected to be achieved at the end of the

Game? What is the target state?

e.g.: Prototype a car, Creating a Business Plan or Project Plan.

Initial State: What do you know about the target state? What dont
you know? Who are the teams? What resources do we have?
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Initial state, target state, teams and resources defined, its time to start
generating ideas. Here the team will diverge. This is a big bang, an
explosion of ideas.

Games:

- Ideas Development
- Anti-Problem/Reverse Thinking
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Game: Ideas Development

Allows contributions and generation of ideas from all team members, even those who are more
quiet, through co-creation. Ideas are generated before they are criticized by the group
therefore there is more space for different and innovative ideas;

How to play:

1 In a board write the a topic that will be used to generate ideas. e.g.: Employee Reward Program;
2 Share with people sticky notes where they can write down their ideas;
3 As the people complete their ideas. Ask them to forward their sticky notes to the person on their right
side;
4 Ask the players to read the sticky notes received and use it to generate new ideas or to increment the
existent idea in the existing sticky notes. New ideas could be written in new sticky notes. Forward the idea
to the team member in the right side again;
5 Continue the process of forwarding the sticky notes to the colleague on the right side until the sticky
notes are full of ideas;
6 Once the process is finished, ask for help to put all the ideas on the board around the topic written
previously.
7 Ask the group to go to the board and draw stars on the most convincing ideas;

Number of Players: 5 to 15
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Supplies: Sticky Notes/Stickers, Flipcharts
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Game: Anti-Problem/Reverse Thinking

Helps people get unstuck when they are at their wits end. It is most useful when a team is already
working on a problem, but theyre running out of ideas for solutions ;

How to play:
1 - Clearly identify the problem or challenge, and write it down.
2 - Reverse the problem or challenge by asking:
How could I possibly cause the problem?, or
How could I possibly achieve the opposite effect?.
3 - Brainstorm the reverse problem to generate reverse solution ideas. Allow the brainstorm ideas
to flow freely. Do not reject anything at this stage.
4 - Once you have brainstormed all the ideas to solve the reverse problem, now reverse these into
solution ideas for the original problem or challenge.
5 - Evaluate these solution ideas. Can you see a potential solution? Can you see attributes of a
potential solution?

Number of Players: 5 to 15
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Supplies: Sticky Notes/Stickers, Flipcharts
Explore
 Explore

Once you have a bunch of ideas, its time to explore them. In this phase you
look for models and analogies, trying to see the things from new
perspectives.

The key word for this phase is Emerging. You will create the conditions to
allow unexpected things to emerge.
 Explore

Game: Lotus Blossom Brainstorming

Helps people exploring deeply ideas related to a central subject .

How to play:
1 Start with a central subject and add the ideas
related to the theme;

2 - Expand the theme into sub-themes, each with

separate entry points.;

Number of Players: 5 to 15
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Supplies: Sticky Notes/Stickers, Flipcharts.
 Explore
Game: 5 Whys

Helps people exploring deeply the problem in order to find out the root causes .

How to play:

1 - Prior to the meeting, establish a problem your team needs to evaluate. Write theproblem in an area visible to all
the group members, and if youd like, draw somethingthat represents it.
2 - Distribute sticky notes to each player and ask them to number five of them 1through 5.
3 - Ask the players to review the problem statement and ask themselves WHY its aproblem. Then ask them to write
their first response on sticky note 1.
4 - Tell the players to ask themselves WHY the answer on sticky note 1 is true and writetheir next response on sticky
note 2.
5 - Again, tell the players to ask themselves WHY the answer on sticky note 2 is trueand write the response on
sticky note 3.
6 - Repeat this process in numerical order until every numbered sticky note has aresponse written on it.
7 - Below the problem statement, write the word Why? five times in a column anddraw lines to create columns for
each players set of notes. Ask the players to approachthe wall and post their responses, starting with 1 at the top
and ending with5 on the bottom.
8 - Review the Why columns with the group and note commonalities and differences

Number of Players: 5 to 15
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Supplies: Sticky Notes/Stickers, Flipcharts.
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Here you will reach the conclusions about your ideas. This is a
moment to evaluate them with a critical or realistic vision.

You cannot develop all ideas, therefore, you will have to converge
and prioritize the most promising ones.
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Some questions that will help you to start closing the ideation
session:

How can we prioritize these ideas?

What is viable?
What can we do in the next 2 weeks?
Who will do it?

e.g. outputs:

- To Do List with Prioritized Items

- Sprint Planning
- Project Planning
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Game: Prioritization Poker

Used to prioritize the most important ideas to be implemented according to the team.

How to play:

1 Write the ideas you need to prioritize on sticky notes. Write a unique number at the corner of each card.
2 Put the cards or stickers on a surface arranged at the top next to each other in random order
3 - Ask each person to voteto write down a number (remember that unique number at the corner of each card?) of an idea
they think has lowest priority. Ask participants not to show or share what they wrote.
4 - Ask everyone to hand you the written numbers. The Idea mentioned more than once must be moved to the bottom of the
surface.
5 - Repeat steps 4 & 5 until ideas are prioritized. On each iteration only ideas remaining at the top are participating in the
voting.

Number of Players: 3 to 5
Duration: 20 minutes
Supplies: Sticky Notes, Paper Sheets
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Game: $100 Test

Used to prioritize the most important ideas to be implemented according to the team.

How to play:

1 To begin the game, explain the challenge to the group: they have a collective $100 tospend on the list of items.
The dollars represent importance of items, and they mustdecide as a group how to allocate the dollars across the
list.

2 - Give the group sufficient time to assign their values, and ask that they also write a briefexplanation for the
amount. It is possible that groups may bring up the literal cost or effortof items on the list; this may confuse the
primary issue of importance and it may bebest addressed as a separate discussion, or as its own $100 Test

3 - When the matrix is complete, ask the group to explain their decisions and reasoning.
The matrix can then be used as a guidepost for future decision making on a project,
specifically, what items are important and of higher priority than the others.

Number of Players: 3 to 5
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Supplies: Markers, Pens, White board, Sticky Notes, Postit Flipchart
 References/Sources

Gamestorming: http://gamestorming.com/games-for-any-meeting
Design Games: http://www.designgames.com.au
Thought Egg: http://thoughtegg.com
7 Ideas: http://www.7ideas.net
MindTools: https://www.mindtools.com