Table top games have played a central role in social learning and the communication of ideas in our society. For example, games such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders and many others are well known for enriching family cohesion whiles games like Monopoly is popular for its impact on subtly building our interests in housing and investments.
Narrowing down to games that support recovery from substance use, names such as Jenga, passing the ball, recovery bingo, coping skills jeopardy and many others are well known. These games are known for a number of benefits, notable amongst them are increasing participation and engagement at group settings, creating good grounds for psychosocial interventions.
The development of Inspirado recovery board game is not an attempt to reinvent the wheel. Recognising the value of games in recovery, Inspirado takes it a step further by providing a fun version of a guided map to support the delivery of interventions. What makes Inspirado truly unique is the seamless incorporation of key recovery features namely relapse prevention, recovery planning, recovery capital, and motivation building in a game.
The overarching theme of the board game is the reinforcement of skills for relapse prevention. In a game of Inspirado, players embark on a nonlinear journey starting as a caterpillar, gathering morale chips which serve as recovery capital, and finishing as a butterfly. Progress of players in the game is dependent on a player's acquired recovery capital.
Morale chips are lost or gained depending on a player's response to events or alerts with either the recovery plan cards or behaviour die. Find below the imagery of the different types of alert (positive and negative) and recovery plan cards used in the game.
Lastly on this brief description on playing Inspirado is the inspirational cards. These cards are read out when players land on the ‘Light Bulb Moment’ tile. They represent the motivation building attribute of the game. This in addition to the event tiles and alert cards become the prompts for insightful conversations round the table.
Find below sample reviews from a countrywide tour in the UK.
The game is now available for purchase. As part of our commitment to building recovery in local communities, we are donating 100 games to 100 peer support groups.
Find out more about the project at www.inspiradohubs.co.uk.