1 We explore the challenge
What does the organisation want to achieve, which behaviour needs to change, and why is that not working well enough yet?
Services
Game Thinking: from a learning challenge to active learning
Discover the game already hidden in your challenge.
You want employees to apply new knowledge, make better choices or start acting differently. The content is often available and the change you want seems clear. But which approach actually helps people move forward? A training course, an interactive learning experience, a serious game — or does the problem first ask for a different way of looking?
With Game Thinking, Preludens helps organisations explore complex learning and change challenges before the solution is designed.
We look at which game principles are already present in practice, and how they can help people learn actively.
The solution does not start with the form
Many organisations know which change they want to achieve. Employees need to work more safely, collaborate better, apply new processes or make decisions more independently.
Often the search for a solution starts quickly. A new training course, an e-learning module, a serious game or another intervention.
Before you decide what to develop, it helps to understand why the behaviour you want does not appear by itself. Maybe the goals are not clear enough. Maybe employees get too little feedback. Or there are conflicting interests, unwritten rules or circumstances that make change difficult.
When you want to change behaviour, you first need to understand how practice works.
That is why at Preludens we do not start by designing a game. We explore the challenge first. You do not yet need to know which product is required. Maybe a training course already exists, but the behaviour does not change. Maybe the content is complex, or the motivation to work with it is missing.
What is Game Thinking?
Game Thinking is the design approach with which we look at a learning or behaviour challenge through the structure of a game. Game principles make visible how behaviour and choices hang together in practice. A challenge does not have to turn into a game for that. More about how we use game-based learning is on our method page.
In a game there are goals, rules, choices, challenges, feedback and progress. Those elements also appear in organisations. Employees work towards goals. They act within rules and agreements. They make choices, experience consequences and try to overcome obstacles.
By making that existing structure visible, we get a clearer view of how people act and where change is possible. From that insight we design a learning experience in which people actively explore, choose, practise and reflect.
Game Thinking is therefore not a product chosen in advance. MicroGame Stories and Dilemma Storytelling are concrete learning formats. Game Thinking is the way to decide first which approach fits the challenge.
Find the Game: discover the game in practice
Within Game Thinking we use our design approach Find the Game. In a session we explore the challenge together, before a form is chosen.
The starting point is simple: many processes and changes already hide a game structure. There are goals people try to reach. Rules that decide what is possible. Choices that have consequences. Challenges that have to be overcome. And signals that show whether someone is on the right path.
Those elements are not always immediately visible. With Find the Game we explore which game mechanisms are already present and how they connect. We do not invent new rules at random. We look for the structure people recognise from their own work, and see how it can support learning, practice or a change in behaviour.
That way a learning experience connects to daily work, instead of standing apart from it.
Which game principles do we explore?
We look at the parts that influence behaviour and choices in a situation. Together they give a picture of the current situation and of where change is possible.
- Goals What are people working towards, and which priorities appear when organisational goals and daily goals are not the same?
- Rules Which procedures, agreements and habits shape the field of play, and how do they influence what people do?
- Choices At which moments does someone have to decide, with which information, and what happens with a different choice?
- Challenges Where do people get stuck: through missing knowledge, or through obstacles, conflicting interests and the circumstances themselves?
- Feedback How do people know whether they are moving forward? In organisations that feedback is not always present or clear.
- Progress Which steps belong to the goal, what do people already master, and where do they still need to practise?
How does Game Thinking work at Preludens?
Game Thinking is a shared design process. We combine the knowledge of your organisation with our experience in storytelling, game principles and instructional design. From practice to a fitting approach.
2 We map the situation
Processes, responsibilities, goals and recurring situations from practice. Where do choices appear, and where do people get stuck?
3 We look for hidden game mechanisms
With Find the Game we make visible how the game principles influence each other in practice.
4 We set learning goals and design principles
What do participants need to understand, recognise, practise or start doing differently? Knowledge, skill and context stay distinct.
5 We explore fitting interventions
A MicroGame Story, a Dilemma Story, a serious game or another form. The form follows from the learning goals and from practice.
6 We work towards a blueprint
Insights, learning goals, game mechanisms and design choices become the starting point for development. Where it fits, we explore choices with a first concept.
What does Game Thinking deliver?
Game Thinking helps make better design choices before time and resources go into development. The result is a sharper understanding of the challenge and a grounded direction, not a game for its own sake.
- A clearer picture of the audience Insight into the situations in which people act, the choices they make and the factors that influence their behaviour.
- Concrete learning and change goals What people need to know, be able to do or start doing differently. That keeps the design focused.
- Insight into existing game mechanisms The game principles that are already part of practice, and what of that can be strengthened.
- A fitting design approach Which form matches the learning challenge, so a solution chosen in advance does not start defining the problem.
- A blueprint for further development Design principles and a concrete direction for the next phase: development, testing and implementation.
Which challenges suit Game Thinking?
Especially when the solution is not yet fixed, or when a challenge covers more than knowledge transfer alone.
- Organisational change and transitions Make visible which choices and circumstances influence new behaviour when processes or responsibilities shift.
- Behaviour change People know what is intended, but act differently. We look at which goals, rules and feedback steer their choices.
- Complex knowledge transfer Translate abstract or extensive knowledge into recognisable situations and focused learning activities.
- Collaboration between teams Make differences in goals, expectations and responsibilities visible, and look for where better alignment is possible.
- Decision-making and problem-solving Explore how people choose when there are several interests and routes, and how they can practise safely.
- Preparation for serious gaming Get learning goals, audience and design principles sharp before a serious game is designed.
An example: a new process that is not followed by itself
Suppose an organisation has introduced a new way of working. The instructions are available. Employees have been given an explanation and know which steps they should follow. Still, teams regularly fall back on the old way of working.
The first response can be to develop extra training. Game Thinking starts with other questions. Why do employees choose the old way of working? Which goals are they trying to reach? Which obstacles do they experience? What feedback do they get on what they do?
Maybe the new procedure takes more time, while employees are mainly judged on speed. Or responsibilities are unclear, so people look for their own solutions.
By looking at the challenge as a game, the goals, rules and choices behind that behaviour become visible. From that analysis an interactive training course may turn out to be valuable. Clearer feedback, adjusted working agreements or another intervention may also be needed.
Game Thinking helps address the structure in which that behaviour appears, and not just the behaviour itself.
This is an illustrative example, not a description of a completed Preludens project.
From Game Thinking to a fitting learning experience
Game Thinking does not stand apart from the other services. It helps decide which approach fits the learning challenge. The aim is an approach that fits the people, the situation and the change you want; a game is one possible outcome of that.
MicroGame Stories: when knowledge needs to be practised actively
When the challenge is understanding, applying and repeating concrete knowledge, a MicroGame Story can fit. Visual storytelling and short game forms in which participants practise with focus.
Dilemma Storytelling: when choices and interests are central
When employees need to learn how to handle difficult trade-offs, Dilemma Storytelling fits better. Participants move through recognisable scenarios, make choices and experience the consequences for different goals.
Serious games and other interventions
Some challenges ask for a fuller simulation, a shared form of practice or something other than a digital game. Game Thinking helps decide the form and complexity that are needed.
Start with a GameStorm
You do not have to start a full design process at once. A GameStorm is a concrete first step to explore a learning challenge together.
During the session we explore the audience, the context and the behaviour you want. We map the main goals, choices and tensions and look for game mechanisms that are already present in practice. We translate those insights into first learning goals, design choices and possible game forms.
That gives you a clearer picture of the challenge and a first direction. A GameStorm is an accessible introduction to the way we think and design at Preludens. Game Thinking is the broader approach; the GameStorm is the bounded session with which that approach begins.
Frequently asked questions about Game Thinking
What is Game Thinking?
A design approach in which we look at a learning or change challenge through game principles. We explore goals, rules, choices, challenges and feedback that are already present in practice, and use those insights to design a fitting learning experience or intervention.
What is the difference between Game Thinking and gamification?
Gamification adds game elements to an existing activity. Game Thinking starts earlier: first how a situation works, which behaviour matters and which game mechanisms are already present. Then we decide whether and how game principles can contribute.
What is Find the Game?
Preludens' design approach in which we look for game structures that are already inside existing processes. Instead of designing new mechanisms straight away, we look at how practice itself offers starting points. More about that is in the article Find the Game.
Is Game Thinking the same as Design Thinking?
No. Both approaches start from people and their context, but they emphasise different things. With Game Thinking we use game principles to make goals, rules, choices, challenges and feedback visible.
Does Game Thinking always lead to a serious game?
No. A serious game can fit, but the analysis can also lead to a MicroGame Story, Dilemma Storytelling, a change in an existing learning programme or another intervention.
When does Game Thinking fit?
When the learning challenge is complex, the behaviour change you want is not yet clear enough, or the right solution is not yet fixed. Also as preparation for a serious-gaming programme.
What does a Game Thinking programme deliver in practice?
That depends on the challenge and the agreed scope. The starting point is a sharper picture of the audience, the change you want, the relevant game mechanisms and the design principles. From those insights a blueprint takes shape.
What is the difference between Game Thinking and a GameStorm?
Game Thinking is the broader design approach. A GameStorm is a bounded session in which we explore a learning challenge and develop first design ideas. The GameStorm can be the starting point of a fuller programme.
Can we use Game Thinking without developing something afterwards?
Yes. The exploration can be valuable on its own, to get a grip on a challenge and set a direction. Whether a learning experience is developed afterwards is a separate choice.
What does Game Thinking cost?
That depends on the complexity of the challenge, the number of people involved and the depth you want. A first GameStorm is smaller than a design process with analysis, concept and prototyping. Together we decide which form fits.
Game Thinking
Discover the game in your challenge
Do you have a learning or change challenge for which the solution is not yet clear? Do you want to understand better why people act as they do, which choices matter and how you can create movement?
With Game Thinking we bring structure to complex challenges. We look for the game principles that are already present in practice, and translate them into a fitting design approach. That creates direction before you start developing.