Équili-bois
Serious board game for environmental education, 2023-24
A project by Maëlys Roulin-Comas, Ruheng Wang, Charlotte Decrombecque and the author; designed in collaboration with ENGEES (École nationale du génie de l'eau et de l'environnement de Strasbourg).
The goal was to design a board game that encourages players to explore the complexity of sustainable forest management. Together, players must balance the needs of biodiversity, wood production, human recreation, and the many plant and animal species that share the forest.
Inspired by the mechanics of Bamboléo, the game invites each player to take on the role of a different forest stakeholder. Every decision affects the ecosystem's balance, while unexpected events constantly challenge the team to adapt and cooperate.
The consequences of each decision are made visible through the position of the balancing board itself. In response to event cards, players must add, move, or remove tree pieces while considering the ecological conditions they need to maintain.
The goal is to keep the forest in balance for as long as possible. Players can only succeed by working together, making cooperation itself a central game mechanic and emphasizing that ecological challenges require collective decision-making and shared responsibility.
Production:
Wood, Screen Printing, and 3D Printing
My Contribution:
I participated in the concept development, dramaturgy, and narrative design of the game and later focused on the design, modelling, and production of the game pieces through 3D printing.
Each figurine represents a different tree species and stage of growth. Their internal weight was carefully adjusted so that each piece influences the board's physical balance differently.
Field Note:
The quickest way to understand the concept of balance is to lose it.