Cohesion 桌游 by Chan Wing Ki is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award 铁奖 in 教育、教学辅助与培训内容设计 Competition Category.

铁教育· 2025

Cohesion 桌游

by Chan Wing Ki

Client: Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A' Design Award 铁奖 Winner in 教育 Category

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Verified Award Winner

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Cohesion 桌游

《凝聚》是一款专为经常发生冲突和沟通问题的家庭而设计的合作型桌面游戏。玩家需在限定时间内共同协作，通过收集代表赞赏、和睦、自律与温暖的价值卡来消除冲突卡。游戏套装包含角色卡、事件卡、印刷地图、沙漏以及亚克力价值方块。由于卡牌不得展示给其他玩家，因此参与者必须通过交流来规划每一步行动。该游戏鼓励家庭成员以团队方式行动，并以建设性的方式解决现实生活中的问题。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铁奖

Cohesion 桌游是 A' Design Award 铁奖得主，这是授予满足人们对设计精良的创作所期待的专业与工业要求的优良设计的声望认可。铁奖得主展现出其创作者的高超技艺、高度专业化、专家级的理解力和创造能力。预计Cohesion 桌游将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的创作，既实用又创新。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铁奖的设计整合了行业最佳实践，并拥有与专业知识和才华相结合的称职技术特性。Cohesion 桌游因其严谨而受到尊重，旨在提供有助于让世界变得更美好的生活品质改善。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Cohesion is a cooperative fast reaction board game designed for educating the families who are facing negative relationships. Players must work together, utilizing different family values like appreciation, harmony, discipline, and warmth, to overcome conflicts and maintain family solidarity. Through communication and collaboration, the game teaches players how to deal with real-life problems in a constructive and positive manner.
Dimensions & Packaging: The board game includes one box package(22cm x 16cm), 4 character cards(8.5cm x 5.5cm), 52 values cards(8.5cm x 5.5cm), 26 event card(8.5cm x 5.5cm), 17 conflict cards(8.5cm x 5.5cm),1 hourglass, 1 map(29.7 cm x 42 cm), 52 acrylic value tiles (3cm x 3cm).
Tags: Board Game, Family conflicts, Team Building, Family Dynamics, Conflict Resolution, Cooperation, Communication Skills, Positive Relationships
Production Technology: The design of "Cohesion" involved a thoughtful process combining research and creative methodologies. I utilized card-based mechanics to encourage interaction, with 4 character cards, 52 value cards, and 26 event cards designed to represent core family values. The 17 conflict cards introduce real-life challenges, fostering discussion and resolution. The board and acrylic tiles were crafted with precision to enhance the visual appeal. Iterative playtesting helped refine gameplay mechanics, ensuring a balance between fun and meaningful engagement.
Design Challenge: Developing "Cohesion" presented the challenge of balancing engaging gameplay with meaningful lessons on family dynamics. Ensuring that the game effectively promoted cooperation over competition required extensive research into family values and conflict resolution techniques. One significant obstacle was addressing the diverse communication styles within families, as seen in Millie's case, where misunderstandings arose. By incorporating feedback from family wellness studies and iterative playtesting, I refined mechanics to foster appreciation and collaboration, ultimately enhancing family connections.
Research: Research Background
The shift from large, interconnected extended families to smaller, detached nuclear families has led to increased instability for families and negative impacts on children. David Brooks (2020) notes that while life has become freer for individuals, it has also resulted in heightened family conflicts. Family conflict refers to active opposition between family members and can arise from struggles over values, scarce resources, and differing interests. Cooperation is essential for maintaining healthy family dynamics, yet competition often overshadows it.
Methods
The design of the board game focuses on fostering cooperation among family members to address conflicts. It aims to create a supportive environment where families can navigate challenges together. The game is informed by research on family well-being, specifically from a study conducted by the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society.
Tools
Board Game: The primary tool for facilitating family interactions and promoting cooperation.
Score System: The game includes a scoring mechanism based on four subdomains of family solidarity: family time, family atmosphere, family responsibilities, and care and support.
Value Promotion: The game emphasizes positive values to counter negative situations and improve family interactions.
Participants
The target audience for the board game is families experiencing negative relationships, characterized by frequent conflicts and poor communication. The game is designed to engage all family members, encouraging them to work together and strengthen their bonds.
Results
The game encourages families to recognize themselves as a team, improving interactions and fostering positive emotions. It provides a support system that helps individuals navigate life's challenges while ensuring they feel connected and valued within the family unit.
Insights
Importance of Cooperation: Emphasizing cooperation over competition is crucial for maintaining healthy family relationships.
Communication Gaps: Addressing communication barriers is essential to prevent misunderstandings, as seen in Millie's family, where communication issues lead to conflicts.
Family Solidarity: Focusing on family solidarity creates a sense of belonging and connectedness, which are vital for emotional well-being and resilience in facing challenges.
Positive Values: Promoting positive values within the game can help families manage conflicts more effectively and build stronger relationships.
Inspiration: The pandemic has led to extended periods of time spent at home with family, resulting in an increase in family conflicts. This rise in conflicts can be attributed to more frequent communication, differing interests, and inconsistent views and opinions on various matters. Interestingly, many of these conflicts often begin with positive intentions but can end in negative feelings.
My board game design aims to address these dynamics by encouraging open communication and understanding.
Project Duration: The project started in December 2022 in Hong Kong and finished in June 2023 in Hong Kong, and was exhibited in Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in June 2023.
Operation Flow: At the start of the game, each player draws a role card indicating how many base cards they need to hold. Players then draw two conflict cards, replacing any eliminated card with a new one to maintain two on the board. The game is turn-based; if a player lacks the necessary cards to resolve conflicts, they must discard and draw a new card. Players can’t show their cards but must communicate about them. They use event cards to gather required value cards to eliminate conflicts. Players must do this before the hourglass runs out to score family cohesion levels.
Patents: /
Team Members: Designer: Chan Wing Ki
Image Credits: /