GAMECHANGE Training Activity

Innovative Board Games for Youth Engagement

The GAMECHANGE – Innovative Board Games for Youth Engagement project brings together youth workers, trainers, and educators from Cyprus, Romania, and Poland to explore how board games can be used as innovative tools for learning, inclusion, and youth participation.

From 8 to 14 March 2026, the project partners meet in Pissouri, Limassol (Cyprus) for an intensive Training for Trainers and Youth Workers, hosted at Hylatio Tourist Village. The training gathers 19 youth workers from three partner organizations who will collaborate to design and test educational board games that address social challenges affecting young people. This training represents the core learning activity of the project and focuses on transforming real social problems into creative game-based educational tools.

Why Board Games for Youth Work?

Education and youth engagement are constantly evolving. Traditional learning methods often struggle to maintain the attention and motivation of young people. Game-based learning offers a powerful alternative by combining interaction, creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. Board games in particular provide a hands-on learning environment where participants can develop critical thinking, teamwork, and social skills while exploring real-world topics. Unlike digital games, they encourage face-to-face communication and group interaction, making them an excellent method for non-formal education and youth work.

The GAMECHANGE project aims to empower youth workers with the knowledge and practical skills needed to design and implement educational board games that promote participation, inclusion, and active citizenship.

Training Overview

During the five-day educational program, participants will work in international teams to design their own board game concepts and prototypes. Through expert lectures, workshops, and practical activities, they will learn the fundamentals of game design and apply them to real social challenges.

The training program focuses on several key stages:

1. Understanding Game Design: Participants learn the principles of game design and how to transform a social problem into a clear game mission and concept. 

2. Building a Prototype: Teams create their first playable game prototype, developing mechanics, rules, and gameplay structure. 

3. Playtesting and Feedback: Participants test their games with other teams, collect feedback, and improve their prototypes through iterative development. 

4. Finalizing and Presenting Games: Teams refine their games, prepare presentation materials, and present their projects during the GAMECHANGE Game Expo.

Through this collaborative process, participants gain practical experience in gamification, storytelling, creative thinking, and educational innovation.

Preparation Activities Before the Training

Before arriving in Cyprus, participants from each partner organization already started the preparation phase of the project. During this phase, the national teams developed initial game ideas and concepts addressing social inclusion and youth engagement. These early ideas served as the starting point for the international collaboration during the training.

The preparation activities helped participants to:

  • explore social issues relevant to youth

  • develop initial game concepts

  • familiarize themselves with basic game design principles

  • prepare materials to present during the training

These initial concepts are presented in the Games Development section of the project webpage. https://gamechange1.webnode.page/preparation-activities/ 

Implementation of the Training

The training in Cyprus is the central moment where participants transform their ideas into real game prototypes.

During the activity, participants:

  • collaborate in international teams

  • develop innovative educational board games

  • test and improve their prototypes

  • present their games during the final GAMECHANGE Game Expo

This process combines learning, creativity, and intercultural collaboration, allowing participants to exchange experiences and co-create new educational tools. A detailed description of the whole work that was done in the training can be found in the page: https://gamechange1.webnode.page/implementation/ 

After the Training: Pilot Activities

The work of the project continues after the training.

Once the training is completed, each partner organization will organize pilot activities in their countries where young people will play and test the developed board games.

The pilot phase will help the teams to:

  • identify improvements and possible mistakes

  • collect feedback from young players

  • refine the rules and mechanics of the games

This testing stage ensures that the final board game is accessible, educational, and engaging for young people.

Game Days and Final Results

After the pilot activities, partner organizations will organize Game Days where the final board games will be presented and played with youth groups and local communities.

During this stage:

  • the final version of the board game will be presented

  • participants will facilitate educational game sessions

  • young people will engage with the social themes of the games

To ensure accessibility, the final board game will also be translated into the languages of the partner countries.

A Collaborative European Effort

The GAMECHANGE project is implemented through the collaboration of three partner organizations:

Together, they aim to promote innovative non-formal education methods, strengthen youth participation, and create practical tools that youth workers across Europe can use in their activities.

Create your website for free! This website was made with Webnode. Create your own for free today! Get started