Juha Hämäläinen is one of the founders of Tacit Space Oy and its finance manager. Tacit Space makes an internal communication web application called Briefer, which works as an individual's notebook and a team's shared memory. Juha and his team have been playing Topaasia games for quite a while now, and he wrote down his thoughts on the sessions for us after their own most recent game session. Juha has been writing daily for a long time, and we are publishing his piece on serious games in our first Guest Post blog entry.

Companies should play more

I have liked games ever since I was very small. Board games, card games, computer games. I have also tried role-playing games and even live-action role-playing. Several times in my life I have also taken part in developing games. Games are dear to me. Rovio and Supercell have made big money with mobile games. A large crowd of game developers inspired by this, not so much. Making a game that generates money is a matter of luck. Instead of developing entertainment games, I have long been interested in so-called serious games. Even though at their best playing them is really fun too. Over the past six months I have regularly played and facilitated the Topaasia card game made by the Finnish company Gälliwashere Oy. In the game, the common enemy is provided by simple rules, an hourglass that provides the time limits, and a deck of cards that is certain to hold enough topics of conversation for any team. Every collaborating team around the world would benefit from the game. Why aren't the Gälliwashere folks millionaires yet? At some point most of us feel we have grown into adults, and games are not part of adulthood. To an outsider's eye it seems that in companies people often play a very strange role-playing game based on power and shame. And people's behaviour often does not differ from kindergarten. Topaasia, like other games, uses its rules to create a situation that at its best levels out those invisible power relations and eases fears. In the game, everyone is just a player who takes their turn within the rules. This way even the quieter ones get involved and the loudest ones focus on listening. The boundaries of people's everyday selves break down, and this inevitably affects how everyday life continues after the game. It is the game's responsibility to build a shared goal and story, whose realisation can then be continued after the game as well. Topaasia does this really well. If at your workplace it feels like people do not dare to say their opinions out loud and therefore cannot give their best, try playing together. If not Topaasia, then some board game at least. Thank you Juha!Read more about Tacit Space and Briefer. You can get to know Juha on LinkedIn.