Change is coming – Gamechangers and more

Changes Are Coming to Workz

A lot of change is happening at Workz this year, and we’re happy to share some updates.

After years of development, we’re getting ready to launch a wave of updates across our leadership simulations. To give you a behind-the-scenes look, we sat down with the head of operations and development, Anders Skovgaard Winther, to talk about what’s coming, why now, and what makes this moment so exciting.

Rethinking Gamechangers®

If you’ve heard about Gamechangers before, you’ll know it’s one of the four leadership simulations in our portfolio. It was originally built as a follow-up to Wallbreakers®, focusing specifically on the challenges of leading change through stakeholders in large, complex organisations.

The original idea was to create a game that mirrors the real-world challenges of stakeholder dynamics, and it has been well-received by facilitators and participants.

Over the years, thousands of leaders have been trained in soft skills through Gamechangers, enhancing organisational performance, particularly due to the complex nature of the subject matter. But over time, it has become clear that updates are needed to help streamline the game.

According to Anders and our partners’ experiences with Gamechangers in daily work, “It got to the point where it started feeling a bit too big, too heavy.” “It was successful because of the complexity, but the same complexity also made it unnecessarily hard to facilitate.”

The challenge was now, “How do we keep the complex nature that makes Gamechangers great, but make it easier to play and facilitate?”

The design challenge: keep the depth, lose the drag

Simplifying a game like Gamechangers isn’t about making it easy and less challenging. It’s about focusing the complexity where it matters—in the content, not in the mechanics.

“You don’t need a game that is difficult to play to explore ideas about complexity,” Anders explains. “Our work at Workz is about taking complexity and making it tangible.”

While Anders was the original developer of Gamechangers, Lars Roswall Vilhelmsen is leading the development team for the updated version.  They are trimming the parts that made facilitation more difficult, while retaining the rich, challenging experience that participants and facilitators love, and giving it a new look at the same time.

“We needed someone else to take the lead on the redesign, bringing an outside perspective on how Gamechangers can be improved. Kill some darlings!”, Anders closed.

For those who like the original, everything is still there—it’s just been refreshed, restructured, and streamlined. And for those who found it a bit too much. This new version is much more accessible.

Introducing Workz+, a smarter, greener way to play

Redesigning Gamechangers is only part of the work being done by the team. They have also been taking a step back. Looking at how we deliver our games and whether we can improve it.

Our latest feature, the online platform Workz+, makes our games flexible and sustainable.

Most of our games are heavily paper-based. Some parts—like the special reveal cards—are designed to be used only once. They’re fun to open (kind of like unwrapping a birthday present), but they’re not exactly eco-friendly or efficient in the long term.

“It’s exciting for the participants, but it creates a lot of waste, and it’s hard for facilitators and our partners. Materials must be ordered ahead of time and shipped globally. Buying and using our games requires advanced planning and is not very flexible for our partners.”

By replacing only the disposable paper elements and keeping the physical board games, Workz+ offers the same tactile, face-to-face experience our simulations are known for, but with a digital backbone that adds flexibility, speeds up setup, lowers the number of printed materials and shipping, and requires fewer materials to carry when travelling. It is really a win-win situation.

The new version of Gamechangers will launch exclusively using the new feature, with a preview later this year. Our other three leadership simulations, Wallbreakers®, Playmakers® and Bridgebuilders®, will roll out with Workz+ in parallel, but for those games, you will still have the option to request the disposable paper-based participant materials.

Built from the inside out

Product development at Workz is unique in that we don’t just design games; we use them ourselves.

“We are our OWN customers. My colleagues run these simulations all the time, so the feedback loop is constant.”

That’s a big advantage. We hear what’s working and what’s not, directly from our colleagues, not only from our partners and clients. It’s a collaborative, co-creative process where design, consulting, and delivery are all closely connected in the same building.

What’s next?

At its core, everything we’re doing right now is about expanding the leadership toolbox. We’re building tools that help people lead in complexity—whether that’s navigating change, leading teams or driving transformation in global organisations.

The latest version of Gamechangers reflects that mission perfectly: a smarter, leaner, and more powerful learning experience.

And with Workz+, we’re making our games easier to use and scale, and with a reduced impact on the planet. But still, with an impact brought by playing serious games face-to-face.