Once Upon A Tile

The game board is divided into two main parts: an upper part (“life on the surface”) and a lower part (the “generative underground”). The upper part is inhabited by little human beings. The lower part is filled with matchable tiles that represent resources for human activities, either tangible or intangible. The player’s goal is to evolve and preserve life and universal wellbeing on the surface by generating appropriate elements in the underground and dealing with the complex consequences of her/his actions.

Tile-matching puzzle mechanics to ease the approach to the theme of sustainable development and its social consequences.

The game educates about the relationship between resources, production, growth, knowledge, and communities. Players learn about the matching logic and its immediate effect of generating products, about the effects of such products on the simulated community, about the community’s dynamics in different contexts. Players will discover connections to real-world situations, the emergence of diversity, and the range of possibilities. Via gameplay repetition, players develop familiarity with the diverse situations and the effects of their choices.

Finalist in the UNESCO MGIEP Gaming Challenge.