Gamestorming

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What This Is 🤔

Gamestorming is a facilitation and innovation toolkit created by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo. It brings together a large collection of game-based collaboration frameworks designed to help groups think, plan, and solve problems visually and collectively.

The toolkit treats structured play as a serious method for sensemaking, ideation, and decision-making.

What It’s For 🎯

This toolkit helps teams:

• Engage more fully in complex conversations

• Make abstract topics visible and discussable

• Break habitual thinking patterns

• Improve participation across diverse groups

• Think better together, not just faster

It is especially useful when meetings feel stuck, overly abstract, or dominated by a few voices.

What You’ll Find Inside 🧰

Gamestorming includes a wide range of facilitation games and visual frameworks that help groups:

• Explore challenges and opportunities

• Generate and organize ideas

• Surface assumptions and perspectives

• Align around shared understanding

• Support collective decision-making

The tools are highly adaptable and can be used in short meetings, workshops, or longer collaborative processes.

How to Use It 🧭

Each activity is structured like a “game,” with a clear purpose, setup, and flow. Facilitators select and adapt games based on the group’s context, energy, and goals.

Gamestorming works particularly well when combined with visual thinking, whiteboards, sticky notes, and simple materials.

Key Takeaways 💡

• Play can unlock serious thinking

• Visualizing ideas improves shared understanding

• Structure increases participation and focus

• Good facilitation shapes better conversations

Pro Tips 🧠

• Choose games intentionally — don’t over-gamify

• Be clear about purpose before starting the activity

• Focus on learning and insight, not winning

• Leave time to reflect and synthesize after each game