I started a new job yesterday: I will help run a boardgame workshop for local young people ages 13-24 as part of Folk Lab in Hallunda. It’s play, it’s design, it’s construction.
I will be working with Mats and Olle: They have run after school activities for the last couple of years for younger age groups. All the local kids in the area know them. Mats is the expert on the 3d printer and the laser cutter. Mats helped me create coins for Gotlandia last winter.
I will be there four hours weekly, Friday afternoon/evening. The space is open throughout the week for other activities, so it’s possible to work on a project every day.
My role will be to help and inspire. Bring games to the table, teach how to play, help people explore what games they like and what a game can be. Show how you can create a game yourself. Assemble a print-and-play game. Design and test your very own boardgame about what is dear to you. How to create a physical prototype to iterate on your idea.
Two project proposals
Word got out to local schools this week. It’s drop in and it will take a little while for people to find their way there. So what I did yesterday was to work on two project proposals. Ideas for game projects that people can do.
One is the classic historical boardgame Agon, a two player abstract boardgame. I assembled the print-and-play version from the Cyningstan website. Next is to create a board using the laser cutter. You can use standard chess pieces or maybe we can 3d print the pieces.
The other project is Ragadorn Alehouse Brawl from The Magnamund Companion. Magnamund is the setting for Lone Wolf, a choose-your-own-adventure series from the 1980s. Since 1999, a group of volunteers have worked to make the series available online.
Inspired by a blog post, my idea is to create a model of the tavern with the furniture, items and the characters. It will be fun to create and a nice looking model will help catch the attention of people coming by. Each character in the game has a secret objective so it’s more than just a tavern fight: Players need to explore the tavern and find out who they can trust and work together with.
The idea is to pick something tangible to get started. New ideas will spring from there. Like how about a minis game that takes place in a model of Folkets Hus Hallunda?
I will of course also bring my current games in development as examples of what can be done.
The idea behind Folk Lab
To understand the vision that drives Folk Lab, you need to know its origin: Folk Lab springs from ‘Folkets Hus’ (People’s House), a movement going back to the 19th century. When workers started to organise and wanted to run cultural activities and events, they were not allowed to rent facilities as the owners feared they would engage in illegal activities. The solution was to build their own facilities. Houses open to anyone, regardless of social creed, money, network or formal qualifications. From the first Folkets Hus and Folkets Park in Malmö, the idea soon spread across all of Sweden and is now deeply rooted in Swedish culture and history.
At Folk Lab Hallunda, there are no gatekeepers. No one to ask for permission. You enter not as a guest or a visitor but as a co-creator. It’s a space of inspiration and opportunity where people meet and create something meaningful together.
I’m extremely pleased to join and to play a part in bringing the joy of creation to more hearts and minds.
We have a budget for one year so far. Let’s see what we can do with it!
