Games are far more than light entertainment. Used well, they become a genuine management tool — one you can put to work on issues that really matter, such as improving workplace wellbeing.
By giving employees a voice and rallying them around shared goals, games help surface internal problems, then tackle them.
With 10 years of expertise in bespoke game design, Arcane Experience is the go-to partner for playful sessions in the workplace. Here’s how games can serve your workplace wellbeing agenda.
Using games to open up the conversation about wellbeing and working conditions
By tackling sensitive subjects, games help employees speak freely about key issues affecting quality of life at work — not least the risks linked to working conditions, a growing concern for companies. Playful and slightly offbeat, games create the right climate to lift the lid on taboo situations such as:
- stress,
- incivility,
- workplace bullying.
Even the more reserved participants are more willing to share their experiences and feelings on these difficult questions. Games lower inhibitions and nudge people out of their comfort zone.
At Arcane Experience, we’ve learnt that game mechanics such as puzzles, team challenges and costumes help people step back from their working routine. They build the trust — and the willingness to let go — needed to open up about times when work has been hard going.
During the debrief, games also give employees the chance to raise recurring problems they face on the ground — problems that can affect their health and their commitment. Lack of recognition, excessive workload, relationship conflicts. Everything can be discussed in a supportive setting, thanks to the team spirit the game creates. It’s also a chance to hear the solutions participants themselves can offer.
Through a shared, immersive experience, games help pinpoint organisational failings that damage team wellbeing. An essential first step towards concrete action to improve quality of life and working conditions, in line with what your people expect.
Using games to raise awareness of workplace wellbeing
Beyond helping employees speak up, games also raise real awareness of quality of life and working conditions, by drawing everyone into an enjoyable experience. With an immersive scenario, participants can step into the shoes ofwellbeing championsfor the duration of the session.
Whether playing a coach solving HR challengesor a character caught up in difficult situations, the game brings this essential theme to life. And when the game is tailored precisely to your company, the experience becomes even more effective at generating solutions and areas for improvement.
Facing these challenges first-hand makes the real consequences of poor workplace wellbeing tangible. It encourages discussion and awareness-raising around poor communication and the many issues that rarely get aired day to day. Games also bring together very different profiles, across every department and level of seniority, in pursuit of a common goal. Everyone plays an active part in solving the puzzles and the problems they reveal.
This cross-functional collaboration is ideal ground for sharing good practice and complementary perspectives on workplace wellbeing. Far more than theory on a slide, a game puts wellbeing principles into practice. A powerful way to unite teams around one of the defining issues of working life.
Arcane Experience’s expertise in workplace wellbeing games
At Arcane Experience, we put our expertise in game design to work for corporate training and awareness-raising across many themes, including quality of life and working conditions. Our bespoke game design know-how, combined with a sharp understanding of HR issues, lets us create original, genuinely relevant experiences for your people.
Our flagship wellbeing game is « Les Vilains en PLS ». It plunges participants into the far-fetched world of an evil organisation beset by serious workplace wellbeing problems. Split into teams, they take on the role of specialist coaches in wellbeing at work, tasked with managing conflicts between characters, identifying HR issues and delivering lasting solutions.
Along a trail of puzzles, they carry out a careful diagnosis of the psychosocial failings of the Ligue du Mal : sky-high turnover, employee bore-out, interpersonal conflict, vague procedures… All ills you’ll find in companies today. Our playful approach makes them easier to discuss, with humour and perspective.
With 10 years of expertise, our team has mastered every ingredient of a successful game, guaranteeing maximum engagement: compelling game design, immersive storytelling, customised props and carefully crafted sets.
We’re proud to have earned the trust of demanding blue-chip companies, for whom we create high-quality bespoke games. Recognised as THE name in playful team building, Arcane Experience is the ideal partner to raise your employees’ awareness of workplace wellbeing.
The key takeaways
Far more than entertainment, a game acts as a remarkable catalyst for wellbeing at work. It can become the cornerstone of your whole awareness-raising programme. For real results and genuine engagement, the expertise of a specialist game designer is essential.
At Arcane Experience, we know every trick that turns a game into a true instrument of cultural change. Before long, your teams will know quality of life and working conditions inside out.
