Invent a Game
Invent a Game is a name learning exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- Students will use all the equipment in their pile to make up their own game.
- They need to establish boundaries, rules, equipment use and any other specific information for their game.
- Students choose a name for their game and prepare to teach their game to the other groups.
- The groups take turns teaching and playing each of their invented games.
Run this exercise live
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What participants need now
Materials:
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Prompts to use +
Students will use all the equipment in their pile to make up their own game.
They need to establish boundaries, rules, equipment use and any other specific information for their game.
Students choose a name for their game and prepare to teach their game to the other groups.
The groups take turns teaching and playing each of their invented games.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Invent a Game. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Students will use all the equipment in their pile to make up their own game.; They need to establish boundaries, rules, equipment use and any other specific information for their game.; Students choose a name for their game and prepare to teach their game to the other groups.; The groups take turns teaching and playing each of their invented games.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Playworks; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Playworks.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.