Barefood is a serious game for decision-makers and experts to explore and plan for the complex vulnerabilities within the UK food system. It can also be played by the public and students. Barefood lets you simulate what happens when chronic weaknesses, like food poverty or just-in-time logistics, meet acute shocks, such as extreme weather or cyber attacks. By taking on various stakeholder roles and making difficult choices with limited resources across simulated five-year rounds, participants identify how the food system might fail, and develop resilient strategies to prevent potential civil unrest. The game requires a minimum of 7 players, and can accommodate up to 35 players as they join one of 7 stakeholder groups. A game session can last between 2 and 4 hours.

The game is about three farmers that produce all the same crop (olives) for the market. The setting of the game is in southern Spain where water becomes a scarcer resource over time. In the game there is not a set time frame, but the period is roughly from the time that water was not an issue in southern Spain until the future where water will be a huge problem. During the game every farmer has their own specific aim. The aim of the farmers is to continue producing their crops the best they can, each with a different irrigation method loosely representing their general perspective on the importance of a dwindling water reservoir. One farmer will keep the same irrigation system with a higher water use, one farmer will slightly improve to an irrigation system with a lower water use and one will improve to an irrigation system with the most efficient water use. In essence, the objective of this game is to raise awareness of the impact and importance of different farming practices on a landscape facing more frequent and severe droughts.

The game Who got the power is designed around the intervention of the following 5 main identified actors involved in the case of land use change in the Amazon region of Brazil: the Brazilian farmer, the Brazilian government, the rainforest, the beef export lobby and the international environmental policies. Developed to be used as a discussion tool based on the new scenarios of land use change, the game aims to highlight and present new pathways depending on the collective decisions and actions of the different influences the actors have during the game session on the common resources consisting of the rainforest, agricultural land and livelihood. The concept of the game focuses on the setting of medium-sized family farms engaged in agricultural production, including soy and livestock, in the vicinity of the Amazon rainforest. The main challenge for the players in the game is to figure out the impact of their decisions on the alteration of land use. As power relations are firstly randomly attributed and later redistributed throughout the game when certain thresholds are breached, depending on the resources, the actors will encounter different scenarios based on their influence in the decision making.

This serious game asks players to role-play and it includes an asymmetric component as different countries have different resources and requirements to feed their population. The players can decide to cooperate to help the more vulnerable players and to solve potential global challenges.The schedule for a game session is as follows:Preparing the game: 5 minutesIntroduction and instructions: 5 minutes - Playing the game: 30 minutesDebriefing and Reflection: 10 minutesFor optimal gameplay, 3 to 6 players are required, accompanied by 1 facilitator and 3 observers. The observers will make pictures, collect quotes and data regarding the steps each player makes.While the game was initially developed with policymakers in mind, it also offers valuable insights for other stakeholders within the food system. Larger food companies, for instance, stand to benefit from understanding the potential ramifications of external conflicts on their supply chains. By contemplating strategies for scenarios where ingredient sourcing becomes compromised, companies can proactively mitigate risks and ensure continuity in their food production processes.

Gaia Explorers is a collaborative serious board game for 4 to 8 players, designed for a 30-minute session by Federico Andreotti and illustrated by Iván McGill. Players explore future scenarios while navigating the challenges of living within planetary boundaries. Inspired by Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis and Post- Growth principles, the game challenges players to balance food production, biodiversity conservation, and emissions reduction on a newly discovered planet. The game’s mechanics draw on the EAT-Lancet guidelines and Planetary Boundaries framework to model sustainability dynamics (Richardson et al. 2023). Through individual and collective strategies, participants tackle key issues such as sustainable food production and consumption, greenhouse gas reduction, land use, and biodiversity conservation.