Magnitude

This board game is a model of the choices and consequences government ministers face when trying to further their nation’s development. It asks groups of 4 players (“national ministers”) to implement a plan to maximize their nation’s achievements towards the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target year of 2015 in an environment where disasters do occur as a fact, and thereby affect the country’s progress toward those goals.

Magnitude was created as part of a collaboration studio with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR, formerly known as UNISDR) through the Parsons Humanitarian Design Lab.

Game Design: Lien Tran, Ben Norskov, Michelle Jackson

Visual Design: Hannah Lea Dykast

Magnitude as a featured game session at the Miami DO Tank, organized by the Field Innovation Team with the University of Miami’s Center for Communication, Culture, and Change, February 2015
Magnitude: Developing Strategies for Managing Disasters’ Threats, Games for Change 2013
Magnitude at Tech@States’s Serious Game conference, 2011
Magnitude played at GAR11 Global Launch in Geneva, Switzerland, 2011
Magnitude: Educational Resources on official UNISDR GAR11 site

If you are interested in facilitating Magnitude in a class or workshop, please use the following links:

This PowerPoint file to help explain and facilitate the game: Magnitude Game Facilitation Deck (PPT).
You will also need a set of game components.
- You can order the cards that are in the regular version of the game online at The Game Crafter(advanced cards are not included): https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/magnitude
- Or download and print this file if you prefer to print and assemble the cards yourself: Magnitude DIY game components

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lien[at]lienbtran[dot]com