№ 46 | Future Scenarios Inspired by Videogames, Strategic Doing, Social Media Issues, Backdoors & Breaches, the Tiny Awards, and A Password Game

№ 46 | Future Scenarios Inspired by Videogames, Strategic Doing, Social Media Issues, Backdoors & Breaches, the Tiny Awards, and A Password Game

Future scenarios, inspired by videogames

They took your garbage can away today.
Your recycling bin too. All that’s left is the compost bin.
Neighbors are standing at the curb watching the trucks drive off, looking a bit in shock.
It sounded impossible when the federal government first announced it last year. But now it’s really happening.
It’s the end of garbage as we know it.

Here’s a short, solid piece from Jane McGonigal, Ph.D., Director of IFTF, where she answers the question: “How can I make a future scenario feel as immersive and explorable as a videogame?”Some practical tips in here, hearkening back to CYOA books and early text adventures.

Strategic Doing

Actually, a book review by Harold Jarche of Strategic Doing, in which the author’s identify 10 skills, of which “the most successful teams consistently used eight of these skills, while the least successful used only two.” I could see turning this into a game or conversation starter of some kind…

Social media issues

I’d love to go back to school, for courses like this one on Social Media Issues.
From the discussion questions to thought provoking models such as the one below, I’m a wee bit envious of the students who took this class!

A security (card) game!

Did I mention this game in a previous FF? If not, here ya go…

Backdoors & Breaches is a “popular incident response card game” for security practitioners. And it’s back with a new expansion deck, focused on “top threats and techniques from the 2023 Threat Detection Report.”

The new Red Canary expansion deck is an amalgamation of experiences from real-world incidents, combining common incidents with some of the more unusual and thought-provoking. Of course, we couldn’t help but add in some fun hypotheticals…

Source “Unboxing our Backdoors & Breaches expansion deck”

The Tiny Awards

Here’s the shortlist for the Tiny Awards, a “celebration of the small, playful, and heartfelt web.” I’m still working my way through the 16 nominees, but I’ve already been surprised and delighted by several of these websites. Have fun. You’re welcome. 😉


Speaking of delightful things…


***BONUS: A password game?!
This insane password game is a frustrating delight. You can curse me later.

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№ 89 | Defense Against Dishonest Charts, Make It Toolkit, Scale Up! The Business Game, Decision Trees for UI Components, ShadowBox Training, and Shadow Dynamics

№ 89 | Defense Against Dishonest Charts, Make It Toolkit, Scale Up! The Business Game, Decision Trees for UI Components, ShadowBox Training, and Shadow Dynamics

Hello, and welcome to another roundup of playful ‘things to think with’ and think about! Let’s dive in… Defense Against Dishonest Charts Over the years, I’ve collected various examples of bad charts (most often from certain news outlets and political groups). This is a topic explored in-depth in

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 88 | Flipspark, City Making 101, Adventure Playgrounds, 🌀 How To Speak Squiggly! 🌀, AfroRithms From The Future, The Great Cognitive Depression, and The Periodic Table of Questions and Connection

№ 88 | Flipspark, City Making 101, Adventure Playgrounds, 🌀 How To Speak Squiggly! 🌀, AfroRithms From The Future, The Great Cognitive Depression, and The Periodic Table of Questions and Connection

More playful things to think with. Though, this issue is a wee-bit longer, given that two of my “finds” this time are articles to think about, and not strictly ‘things’ to think with. 🧠Also… a request! I’m prepping for the 15th anniversary reprint of the Mental Notes card deck;

By Stephen P. Anderson