Past Projects

Future Projects

Past & Present Projects

UBG have run many different innovative workshops over the years. Many of our workshops are annual events and just get better each year. We work in schools, with community groups, adventure playgrounds facilitating workshops for young people, parents and staff.

Project Partners with Universal Board Games

Hackney Museum

Brainplay

Hackney Play Association

Islington Listen Up

Islington Young People's Services

Kensington and Chelsea young people's services

Islington Summer University

Hackney Learning Trust

Cityzen

Barnard Park Adventure Playground

Arsenal Regeneration Team

Newlon Housing Trust

Peabody Trust

Islington Council

Southwark Play Service

Groundworks, Medway swale, Islington, Slough

British Museum

Gillett Square Trust, Gillett Squared

Game Playing Workshops

Newham Libraries Black History Month

October 2009

Through Black history month universal board games ran a series of workshops in 3 Newham libraries for young people and adults. The session were extremely popular, with the young people playing and learning lots of new games from different cultures and countries throughout the world. Staff and young people joined in playing games that they had never seen seen before, but no sooner had they started, 2 hours had past. Many of the participants were keen to travel to the next session held at a different library in Newham. The senior staff and children at these libraries were keen for further regular universal board games workshops to take place at their libraries.

Hackney Games Exchange

July-September 2009

Throughout the summer universal board games wortking in partnership with Hackney Museum designed a exhibition of games for family and friendscalled 'Games Exchange'. Classic games like Monopoly, Cluedo, Backgammon and Chess were present along with many new giant games like the ever popular, Le Passe Trappe, Fishing game, Batik, Kippitt, Carrom, Shove half penny, the Hackney history game 'Lost in time' get me out of here. Inaddition their were many new games from around the world. Brain teaser puzzles and word games were displayed on a magnetic wall for people to play and a host of other games. There was something for everyone to enjoy at the exhibiton 'Games Exchange'. The museum received record attendances throughout the summer from children, parents, adults and families visiting the exhibition, playing and having lots of fun.

"This should happen all the time ", said one user.

"We had so much fun, we were only going to stay for a while, but we have been here all afternoon", said another.

"One of the best exhibitions we have ever had", a museum staff member remarked.

Kadimah Centre for Wellbeing

monthly since may 2009

UBG facilitate game playing sessions for adults attending te Kadimah Centre. The sessions focus on playing together and building confidence and developing social skills.

In may 2009 UBG were invited to facilitate monthly game sessions at Kadimah Centre for Wellbeing, Stamford hill. The sessions are open to all Kadimah members and have been great fun. Playing games gives the members an opportunity to interact with each other in a fun social way. Game playing evokes strong memories of childhood where you can leave some of your everyday concerns to one side for an hour and just relax and focus on winning!! The games sessions have been very enjoyable for all involved and hopefully reintroduced some of the members to the blissful state of play.

Parents Games Club Workshops at Hungerford and Tuffnell Park Primary Schools, Islington.

March-April 2008

Over 4 weekly 2 hour session parents from Hungerford and Tufnell Park Schools participated in workshops to learn to play and teach board games from around the world, with an aim to setting up a board games club at their school. Parents spent the first 2 weeks learning and playing lots of new games and discussing which ones would be good for their children. Parents also took games home to play with their families. On week 3 and 4 parents ran a short game playing session for children at the school and got to experience first hand the positive reaction of the children to playing games.

Both groups of parents are still running lunchtime games clubs at their schools.

“I realised that children love playing board games” (Parent on the games club course).

“I learned that games can be fun”

“I’m now very interested in running a games club at the school with support”

 

Gillett Square Games Days

June 2007, 2008 and 2009

Once again the games days were very poular with local people in hackney turning up to play games toegther and have fun. UBG ran public game playing workshops every saturday afternoon in June. The workshops were a great success with over 60 people attending each week and many people attending all 4 weeks. Everyone was represented from 5 year olds to 60 year olds all joining in and learning and playing together.

Hackney Museum Games Club

2004-2007 ongoing

UBG run a weekly games club in Hackney Museum for Pupils from Hackney Free and Parochial School. Mem and Vicky facilitate playing games from around the world with groups of 10-15 young people. These sessions are great fun and the young people have high level game playing skills.

Hackney Estates Games Clubs

2006-2007 September

UBG were commissioned by BRAINPLAY and Hackney Play Association to initiate games clubs on newly established Estate based youth clubs in hackney. UBG facilitated game playing sessions at 6 youth clubs across hackney with young people aged 8-18. By the end of the project each club had their own set of games and a core group of keen game players.

Islington Children's Parliament Weekends

2002-2007 annual

UBG are invited to facilitate game playing throughout the weekend Residential, providing a social fun way for groups to get to know each other. In recent years our design projects have also become part of the workshop programme for example this year we played Dodge That Bully and Transition Rollercoaster.

Islington Summer University

2002-2007 annual

UBG have facilitated game playing and design workshops for summer Uni for the last 5 years. The workshops focus on learning lots of new games from around the world and incorporating the new ideas into your own game design. Many young people later use the experience to inform their CDT board game design in secondary school. The summer Uni workshops are fun and attract a lot of very talented game players.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets Playday

2004-2007 annual

UBG are commissioned by Hackney Play association to facilitate a game playing workshop as part of Playday. The games always attract huge numbers of young people, parents and carers. Playday is always a fun day with lots of positive feedback from everyone who are glad to see so many different games being played by so many different people.

Gillett Square Games Day

2007 hopefully annual

UBG were invited by Gillett Squared to facilitate game playing from around the world for the general public in Gillett Square. The event was a great success with hundreds of people turning up to play games and make new friends. The age range was from 5- 65. UBG and Gillett Squared hope to make these public workshops a regular feature in the square.

Family Learning at St Matthias School

2007 June- July

UBG facilitated a series of game playing workshops for parents at the school. We used lots of traditional games from around the world, encouraging parents to take games home and play with their family. By the last workshop the parents were facilitating game playing with groups of children at the school. These workshops were very successful and we are definitely going to facilitate more parents? workshops in the future.

Game Design Workshops

Island Adventure- a teamwork adventure game.

August 2008

UBG were commissioned by Kensington and Chelsea Summer Uni to deliver a game design workshop as part of their Summer Uni programme. The 'Design your own Boardgame' project was developed to enable a team of young people to work together on creating a theme and board game over 6 sessions. The team decided to make a game where players had to work together to win the game. UBG Tutors led the group through the design process and assisted them to make group decisions and to rcognise their skills. The final game is a really fun way to try working together and helping your teammates win the game.

" I realy like the game, I can't beleive we actually made it"

young person attending Kensington and Chelsea Summer Uni.

Deceptive Decimals- The decimals and fractions game

June- July 2008

UBG worked with year 5 pupils at Harrington Hill Primary School, Hackney to develop a fun game to help pupils change fractions to decimals and vice versa.Over 4 design sessions with the class Ubg created Deceptive Decimals a mystery game where players use their knowledge of fractions and decimals to track down the missing number. The game works really well to help pupils see the connections between fractions and decimals.

" Now why didn't I think of that?"

Head of Maths at Harrington Hill School, Hackney.

Bingo Jungle- the place values game

June- July 2008

UBG worked with year 5 pupils at Harrington Hill Primary School , Hackney  to develop a fun exciting game to help pupils learn about place values. Over 4 design sessions the pupils and UBG created Bingo Jungle a fast paced race game. The game has been really well received by the schools head of maths and the pupils. The game will form part of a 'Nuts4maths' practical pack for all schools and parents across hackney.

"It really is a fun way to learn place values"

Head of Maths at Harrington Hill School, Hackney.

"The game isfantastic, easy to play and gets results"

Karla Bird, Extended Schools Coordinator, The Learning Trust, Hackney.

Switch- the game of Wasters v Eco Detectives

April-May 2008

UBG worked in partnership with Eco Active to engage students at Hackney Free and Parochial School to create an environmental awareness game as part of Groundwork East London's Cool Climate Project. The young people at hackney free chose to make a game about savung and wasting energy inspired by their workshops with Eco Active. Switch is a great fun way to learn more about energy sources and climate change and think about using energy wisely.

 

Good Choices- The Green Citizen Game

March 2008

UBG worked in partnership with Eco Active to engage students at Skinners School Hackney create an environmental awareness game on a theme of their choice as part of Groundwork East Londons Cool Climate Project. Year 9 girls at Skinners school chose to focus on making choices about; Fair trade, Recycling and Food miles. Their game is designed for them to play with their younger peers at local primary schools and encourage them to have fun and learn.

" The games look incredible- thank you so much for all your input! we really would not have been able to achieve as much as we did without your help, advice and input."

Deepika Tailor, year 9 teacher Skinners School.

Green Cross Treasure Hunt - the Independant Travel Game

JAN-JUNE 2008

UBG worked with pupils from Cambridge School to continue the Independant Travel project in it's second year, run by Groundwork London. UBG led the young people through the design process and incorporated their ideas and artwork into the game.The theme of the game was to encourage young people to travel safely on their own. The final game is fun and easy to play but also informative and will inspire young people to try travelling independantly and safely.

"I really enjoyed watching the game develope from week to week and seeing how the ideas and input from the pupils were added at each stage, resulting in an excellent game."

year 7 Teacher Cambridge School.

Transition Rollercoaster

2007

A game about the emotional rollercoaster for young people in transition from Primary to Secondary School. Made by young people and mentors at CityZEN and UBG. We work with the ideas of the young people and lead them through the design process to create a fun and useful game that lets young people explore their fears and worries about changing schools.

Transition Rollercoaster is for sale through Universal Board Games or CityZEN.

Dodge That Bully

2007

A game designed by young people at Barnard adventure playground and UBG.

UBG worked with young people to design a young people friendly questionnaire to interview their peers about their experience of bullying. The results from the interviews are all in the game which explores ways to prevent and avoid being bullied. The game has a voting system that gives all the players a chance to have their say about the most effective ways to deal with bullies.

A Slice of the Cake

2006

A budgeting game design by UBG. The game was designed to consult young people how they would spend the councils budget. Players take turns to be the big chief moving around the board and persuading players to invest in the service they land on. UBG played the game with 15 different groups across the borough and collated the results into a report. The game works really well as a discussion tool and can be adapted to different budgets for different groups.

Hyperfactive

2005

This is one of the most productive projects we have ever done

Marcus, teacher, Paradise PRU.

A drugs awareness game designed with young people at Paradise PRU and Venus Project. The game was made over half a term, working with the young people to decide on gameplay and graphic style. They then tested the mock ups until we were all happy with the final game. The game has question and answers about all the facts around drugs awareness for younger people. By playing the game young people learn and retain many useful facts and have fun.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Arsenal Emirates Stadium Regeneration game.

Very impressive game, very clever and the young people are very bright

Ken Friar, Arsenal FC.

Consultation with young people about the future of the Emirates stadium podium and Eden Grove public spaces.

Throughout July, August and September 2005 Universal Board Games consulted with 166 young people across Islington about the new Arsenal stadium podium and Eden Grove public spaces. The purpose of this consultation was to establish their views on what the podium and Eden grove public spaces could be used for from a young person's perspective and any concerns that might arise about the use or misuse of this space.

Universal board games worked with groups of young people by playing board games as a tool to help focus their attention, make it fun and get them communicating with each other. We then discussed the themes with the young people using one to one group discussions and questionnaires. This formed the basis to begin to create a game from their ideas and input. The results of this consultation were creatively presented in the form of a board game. This new game was then used as a consultation tool for young people to play on other sites and in the Arsenal Boardroom with the key decision makers.

The Museum Mysteries

2004

A really important part of the success of the project is the enthusiasm of Mem and Vicky from UBG.

Rhiannon Crackett, Hackney Museum Games Club.

UBG worked with young people at the Museum Games Club to design a game about the history of hackney and incorporating artefacts from the museum. The group designed a really fun game where players travel through time trying to find the stolen artefact. Playing the museum game is an excellent way to learn the key facts and dates in the history of Hackney for young people and adults.

Young People's Consultation Projects

Islington Summer Uni Game

2007

Universal Board Games (UBG) were commissioned by Islington Summer University (ISU) to design a board game that consults children and young people on the following:

Content and balance of 2006 ISU programme
This included what they would like to sign up for. What they felt could be left out of the programme and what they would like to see included in the 2007 programme

The Enrolment process

Publicity and Marketing

Venues

Accreditation

10 years anniversary celebratory ideas.

Summer University expanded to Easter Holidays and half term breaks

UBG visited 6 sites across Islington including secondary schools, project 16, youth offending team and other hard to reach groups in the age bracket of 10-19 and focusing more on the 14-19 age groups.

UBG designed and created a board game using the 2006 summer course content programme information and enrolment process. Once the game was completed and printed the next stage was to test it with ISU manager and design an evaluation questionnaire to help collect more specific information from the groups.

The Summer Uni Game was designed to give young people a chance to look at and think about all the courses on offer, not just their preferred areas of interest. UBG collated the results into a report which was used to plan future summer Uni's.

A Slice of the Cake, Budget game

2006

Throughout September, October and November 2005 Universal Board Games (UBG) consulted with a variety of young people of all ages, cultural backgrounds and gender across the borough of Islington. UBG developed a budget consultation board game aimed at young people, so they could understand the dilemmas and decisions involved in planning a budget. UBG consulted with young people at a Breakfast club, Youth groups, Adventure Playgrounds, Pupil Referral Unit, Children's Active Involvement Service (CAIS) and Schools.

The response of the young people towards the whole budget consultation game was extremely positive. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the game evoked a lot of meaningful discussion and decision-making. The young people were keen to express their views and prioritise the council's services.

UBG have created a generic budget board game that can be used in a number of situations and adapted to be played interactively on the council?s website. The staff at the various centres also felt that they could adapt the game to help with their own local budget dilemmas.

Hands Off, Waterside Adventure Playground rebuild

2006

Universal Board Games were commissioned by Islington Children's Services to consult with children and young people on a variety of issues surrounding the future of Waterside Adventure Playground and Youth Club.

UBG designed two questionnaires: One for the play age group 5-14 and one for the youth age group 14-21; to gather their views and feelings on a range of issues and decisions that will affect them. However, before conducting the face to face questionnaires we met with the children, young people and staff at Waterside, over February and March, to explain the project, play games and engage them in some arts/crafts activities. This helped to gain their trust, co-operation and honest responses to the questionnaires. This method enabled Universal Board Games to clarify any questions, uncover new ideas and engage in a full and frank range of responses.

The information was compiled into a report which was presented to the developers and has helped the playground to retain its original site and was used to negotiate a new improved building as part of the regeneration of Packington Estate. More importantly it demonstrated to the housing trust the need for quality play provision in the 21st century.