Seeds of the futures: creating pathways to a better world

Who the game is for

The game is designed for policy makers, investors, researchers, system thinkers – anyone working at the frontier of sustainability and transitions thinking. It’s suited to teams who need new tools for strategic reflection—those who want to break out of habitual approaches to planning and unlock different ways of seeing the systems they’re trying to change.

Why we created it

Over years of Deep Transitions research, it’s clear that transforming systems requires new ways of imagining what’s possible.

We developed the game to help players:

• Foster creative thinking and open imaginative horizons.
  By stepping into a 30-year future-building journey, players loosen the grip of present-day assumptions.
  
  
• Deepen their understanding of sustainability pathways.
  Instead of treating change as linear, the game reveals its messy interplay—the new emerging, shocks disrupting, consequences unfolding.
  
  
• Disrupt habitual patterns of behaviour.
  Teams are forced to break routines, negotiate trade-offs, and experiment with alternative actions.
  
  
• Surface insights that other tools may miss.
  We focus on shocks, consequences of actions, trends and landscape shifts. These are real-world dynamics that affect future plans – and must be interacted with if we are to gain a better understanding of how to create resilient pathways.
  
  
• Create a shared language and direction for teams.
  The game serves as a starting point—an energising spark for deeper work.
  
  

We designed the game to be flexible, so facilitators can adapt it for their own contexts and locale, and can be used in workshops, DT experiments, introductory sessions on concepts, strategic planning retreats, or cross-sector dialogues.

How the game works

Players choose one of three future worlds—a vision of what a sustainable society could look like. They step into roles such as policy maker, NGO leader, investor, business innovator, or university researcher. Each player nurtures niche innovations—spaces where alternative practices can take root—and collectively the team builds a pathway across three decades.

Over the rounds, teams must:

• Introduce and grow new niches (alternative practices, such as artificial photosynthesis)
  
  
• Create links between these niches
  
  
• Destabilise dominant, unsustainable systems
  
  
• Respond to shocks and unintended consequences
  
  
• Adapt to long-term societal trends
  
  
• Ultimately, tilt the landscape towards a new world, a society
  
  

The game mirrors the real dynamics of socio-technical transitions: unpredictable, full of tension, but also ripe with possibility.

Why it’s valuable

The game makes the complexity of long-term transitions tangible and playable. Instead of discussing abstract systems change, participants experience it—its friction, uncertainty, creativity, and opportunity.

Players have said that the game:

• Shifts their perspective on what change requires
• Helps them recognise the role their own sector can play
• Generates ideas new ideas of how to build resilient pathways 
• Creates a collaborative environment where other perspectives on systems change are shared
  
  

At a time when the world urgently needs new ways of thinking, this game invites teams to step outside the constraints of the present and practice building the worlds we want.

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Ready to play?

We’re excited to share Seeds of the futures: creating pathways to a better world. If you’re curious and want a structured way to explore what transformational change could look like—we invite you to step into the role of world builder.

You can now explore and play the game through our Learning Hub, designed to guide you through every step. There is also a physical board game, which we will be playing at workshops and events – so look out for opportunities to play with us!

Play here! 

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Created by: Bipashyee Ghosh, Phil Johnstone, Laur Kanger, Natalie Laurence, Johan Schot, Emilee Schuman, Diana Velasco

Designed by: Naz Constante