In Real Life

Project Summary :

A prompt-card game that gets people creating with their hands instead of their thumbs. No screens, no scrolling — just a deck, a table, and creative minds. Because here's the thing this game believes that everyone is creative in their own way....but we just forgot that.

Problem :

We've gotten really good at being in the same room and still feeling completely alone. We'll choose a phone screen over a stranger's "hello" in an elevator — not because we don't want connection, but because we've lost the easiest ways of finding it.

Niche :

Branding · Game Design · Experience Design · Packaging · Product Design

Decision:

Turns out the fastest way to bring people together isn't a deep conversation starter — it's play. Play lowers the stakes. It makes it okay to be a little silly, a little unpolished, a little human. So I leaned into that, and specifically into something almost nostalgic: making things with your hands. It's low-tech on purpose — the game asks for less screen time and more presence, and along the way, it turns out that's also just good for people's wellbeing.

Future Possibility

Thoughtfully designed single deck expansion packs for different professions. Prompts would intentionally be created to go along with the primary game.

Research :

This wasn't a hunch — I spent real time testing it. I read into behavioral research and books on play and connection, sat with academic articles, played through a stack of existing games to see what worked and what didn't, ran interviews, and hosted my own workshops to watch strangers actually play the prototype. The game changed a lot because of what I saw in that room.

Workshops & Activities :

* Lego Building with Action Prompt cards

* Create and Collaborate - Collage Making

* Exquisite Corpse