My Green House Challenge

Context: who/when/where

Who: Youth

When: During Play Session 

Where: Parks of Genk

Description:

The game aims to facilitate discussions about strategies and policies related to energy transition and to celebrate players' roles as community actants.

“My Green House Challenge” is an iteration of the Sims Mediator, however, it differs, and builds upon the “Sims Mediator Challenge” in several key ways:

  ◦ A significant difference is the shift in the gameplay platform. While the original "THE SIMS MEDIATOR CHALLENGE" explicitly uses The Sims Free Play, "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE" instead uses physical "pieces of the game" to build homes and interact with family members, suggesting a tabletop or physical game format rather than a mobile video game.

• Game Phases and Mechanics:

    ◦ A new crucial phase, "Build Starting House and Player," has been added in "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE." In this phase, players receive starting pieces (a floor panel and four outside walls) and five coins to buy furniture for their house, directly integrating a tangible house-building element from the outset. Players also create their game character by dressing a human piece. This builds upon the idea of "building their homes" mentioned in the original game by making it a direct, active part of the gameplay.

    ◦ The reward system has evolved from simply using stickers to a coin-based economy. In "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE," each prompt card played rewards the player with a coin, which can be spent on improving their game house with new floor panels, walls, and furniture.

    ◦ A unique development in "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE" is that buying energy transition items (such as solar panels, heat pumps, and batteries) provides a discount or additional coins for further purchases, reinforcing the economic benefits of renewable energy within the game mechanics. This explicitly integrates the game's energy transition theme into the reward and building system.

• Game Components and Card Types:

    ◦ The components list in "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE", in comparison to the Sims Mediator, now includes Illustration Cards and Coins, which were not explicitly listed in the original "THE SIMS MEDIATOR CHALLENGE" components. Conversely, "Value Cards" and "Stickers" are no longer listed as primary components.

    ◦ In comparison to the Sims Mediator, the number of available Prompt Play Card colours has increased from six to eight. Two new card types have been introduced: "Ice Breaking cards" (for engagement and decompression) and "Building Neighborhood cards" (which guide players in building their game scenario). These new card types enhance the initial player experience and directly support the new house-building mechanic. Building Neighbourhoods cards also fosters a collective transition than an individual one. 

    ◦ The "Redraw Prompt Play Cards" phase now specifies that some cards feature emojis representing different energy transition concepts. When drawn, these cards must be linked to Illustration Cards that share the same emoji, providing a visual and conceptual learning experience about the meaning and relation of these concepts. This provides a more direct way to understand key energy transition concepts compared to the original, which defined the "world scenario" using Value Cards related to governance, family, neighbourhood, and personal themes.

• Progress Tracking:

    ◦ Progress is tracked using a puzzle system in "MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE", which differs from the "sticker booklet" used in "THE SIMS MEDIATOR CHALLENGE". The coin system and house improvements also serve as tangible indicators of progress in the newer version.

Both games share the same fundamental goal of contextualizing the energy transition concept, moving away from fossil fuels towards clean, renewable sources. They both aim to make homes smart energy hubs and emphasize rethinking how homes, neighbourhoods, and daily habits work together. Meanwhile, they also introduce how energy transitions can be done collectively on neighbourhool level and what would be the benefits of that, through examples like saving up space in their apartment because they gain their energy from the building’s collective solar panel, etc. 

The roles of the Game Master/Facilitator, Timekeeper, and Note Taker remain consistent across both versions, focusing on guiding discussions and documenting outcomes related to energy transition concepts. Both games also encourage players to consider how energy-related decisions influence future societies and their role as energy mediators.

References:

https://transitionscapes.nl/projects/prototype-2-haven-stad/

Extra:

The next step is to not only play this game with youth, but with cross-generational family contexts. We also want to include policy-makers to the conversation and get their point of view and expand the impact we have.

Engagement with more-than-human entities

MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE engages with more-than-human entities in various direct and conceptual ways, primarily revolving around energy and technology within the context of a transitioning home and neighbourhood.

• Natural Energy Sources

    ◦ The foundational concept of the game is moving away from fossil fuels towards clean, renewable sources like solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Players are invited to imagine a house that produces as much energy as it consumes, capturing sunlight and utilising generated power.

 ◦ The game illustrates how these systems are connected, such as solar panels generating electricity that is stored in batteries, excess electricity going to EVs or the grid, and smart home systems managing energy flow based on real-time demand and weather forecasts. This depicts a complex interplay of technologies.

◦ The concept of an "Energy Neighbourhood" extends this engagement beyond a single house to a network of homes sharing power, community batteries, shared EV charging stations, and local energy markets.

Interpretation as “retracing”, that is what we can learn from these activities when we think about data generation for our own research

"Retracing" in this context refers to observing, documenting, and analysing the players' journey, decisions, discussions, and learning outcomes as they progress through the game. The game's design facilitates the generation of both quantitative and qualitative data that can offer rich insights into participants' understanding, attitudes, and behaviours regarding energy transition.

Here's how MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE would be interpreted for data generation for research:

For instance, we can track how many coins players earn (each prompt card played rewards a coin) and how they choose to spend them. Specifically, whether players prioritise basic house improvements (floor panels, walls, furniture) or invest in "energy transition items" like solar panels, heat pumps, and batteries. The discounts offered for buying energy transition items could reveal player motivation and financial decision-making within the game's economy.

Advancement to PD (under at least one of the headings: re-tracing, reconnecting, re-imagining, re-institutioning).

MY GREEN HOUSE CHALLENGE advances Participatory Design by transforming abstract energy transition concepts into tangible, collaborative experiences.

The game primarily falls under re-imagining because it fundamentally reconceptualizes how people engage with energy transition futures:

• Players build homes with real game pieces (floor panels, walls) and buy energy items (solar panels, heat pumps, batteries) with coins, creating concrete prototypes of smart energy hubs that make abstract futures tangible.
  
  

• Through Talk, Story, Twist, and Energy shift cards, players actively construct and discuss alternative energy futures, moving beyond current limitations to imagine new possibilities.
  
  

• Players become "mediators" and "community actants" in energy transition, reimagining their own agency and capacity to shape energy futures.

Sample, extract, case study, or description.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tyIYYp83ldGlrbb3inqBA8AiSwCIrL7R?usp=sharing

Is there a toolbox (in development ) that you can share on this practice? 

Physical Game Components

• Starting house pieces: Floor panel and four outside walls for each player

• Building materials: Additional floor panels, walls, and furniture pieces for purchase

• Energy transition items: Solar panels, heat pumps, batteries (with discount mechanics built in)

• Human game pieces: For players to dress and customize as their character

• Coins: Physical currency system (starting allocation of 5 coins per player)

• Illustration Cards: Visual learning aids linked to energy transition concepts

Card System (8 color-coded types)

• Ice Breaking cards: For engagement and decompression at game start

• Building Neighborhood cards: Guide collective scenario construction

• Talk cards: Facilitate discussion

• Story cards: Narrative-driven prompts

• Twist cards: Introduce unexpected scenarios

• Energy shift cards: Focus on transition concepts

• Prompt Play Cards with emojis: Must be matched to corresponding Illustration Cards

• Total deck: Expandable system (evolved from 70 cards in Sims Mediator version)

Game Mechanics & Phases

1. Build Starting House and Player phase: Character creation and initial house construction

2. Prompt Play Cards phase: Earning coins through card completion

3. Economic system: Coin-based rewards with energy transition item discounts

4. Progress tracking: Puzzle system replacing sticker booklets

5. Cross-generational expansion: Designed for family and policy-maker inclusion

Facilitation Framework

• Game Master/Facilitator role: Guides discussions on energy transition

• Timekeeper role: Manages game flow

• Note Taker role: Documents outcomes and learning insights

• Multi-week engagement structure: Designed for sustained participation

Data Generation Tools

• Quantitative tracking: Coin earning and spending patterns

• Qualitative observation: Decision-making processes and discussion content

• Investment priority analysis: Basic improvements vs. energy transition items

• Learning outcome documentation: Concept understanding through emoji-illustration matching

Conceptual Extensions

• Energy Neighborhood framework: Community-scale energy sharing scenarios

• Smart energy hub prototyping: Tangible future home modeling

• Policy integration pathway: Structured inclusion of policy-maker perspectives

• Cross-generational dialogue protocols: Family engagement strategies