Barabar

Make the world a better place one game at a time

Barabar is innovation in human rights education. It offers lighthearted and enjoyable gamified storytelling that subtly introduces diverse notions of anti-discrimination, gender equality, and inclusion. It develops key 21st century skills alongside empathy and awareness towards vulnerability. It works for school, home and parties if you want to make the world a better place one game at a time!

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2022

Established

2.5K

Children

13

Countries

Target group

Teachers

Updated

June 2023

Learning in difficult subjects and topics is more enjoyable and actually entertaining Creativity and solutions focused mindset is encouraged in education Increased awareness of important dimensions of human rights, diversity and inclusion across different age groups and settings More empathetic and inspired young people who choose to follow the example of prominent activists and change makers

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Human rights are not an afternoon tea topic. People who sign up for such trainings and events are either the most passionate activists or members of vulnerable communities. We want to reach out to more children and young people, especially, and talk with them about diversity and inclusion in an enjoyable and empowering way, thus, helping them overcome biases and challenge stereotypical narratives.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Barabar is a card game where players save the world from 15 challenges - drought, war, pandemic, financial crisis to zombie apocalypse, side by side (barabar=together) with 75 of the brightest minds of the present and the past belonging to 5 clans: artists, scientists, activists, entrepreneurs and environmentalists. The game is based on creative and collaborative storytelling where the players use the clan members' super powers to come up with solutions. To boost engagement there is a competitive component, too in gaining points for collecting resources.
Barabar, for example, is used in maths lessons to contextualize geometric shapes where the students first save the world from zombie apocalypse, then draw shelters in different shapes, calculating their area=how many people can be saved from the zombies. It can also support ecology lessons on sustainable use of water resources saving Earth from drought and learning about 15 prominent green activists in that clan.

How has it been spreading?

We have been attending diverse game conventions and educational conferences across Europe since October 2022 demonstrating and organizing test play and workshops for teachers, educators and youth workers.
We organize trainings for young people and professionals in the field of education highlighting the importance and benefits from gamification where Barabar is a presented as a solution.
We have been joining various gatherings to talk about innovation in human rights education, social entrepreneurship and diversity and inclusion, where we present Barabar as a tool.
We also operate an online shop where the game is accessible in 5 languages: Bulgaria, English, Spanish, German and Dutch.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Get in touch with the team of Infinite Opportunities Association and request a test play. You can also see more about the game and the idea behind it at www.barabar.eu

Implementation steps

Get to know Barabar

Interested individuals should first check the website to understand the plot, watch the How to play video and read the instructions in the rule book.

Save the world

Players choose a challenge from the game box. We recommend they start either with the giant spiders or the zombies as these are relatively quick to overcome problems and quite easily unleash the creative and entertaining storytelling component in the game.

Get to know the clans

If this is a first time playing, we recommend the players take 8 random cards from the deck and place them in front. One player reads out the bios of each card from the rule book for all players to hear and try to remember. The cards are put back in the deck, the deck is shuffled and the game starts with each player receiving 5 cards. If during the game play one of the 8 initially introduced cards gets into the story and the player recreates their bio, all card resources double.

Let's get started

The challenge is placed in the middle of the table and the plot is read out loud. The game starts with the person who first comes up with an idea and a character from the cards to jump into saving Earth. Next is the player sitting clockwise whose cards have to continue and further develop the initial story line. The creative storytelling continues until all resources from the challenge card are collected by the players.

Hooray! Earth and humankind have been saved!

Once all resources have been collected, the challenge has been overcome and the Earth is saved - no zombies can be found around, water resources have been restored, all people have food and/or are healthy. The end of the game is also the moment to reflect about the cards and their contribution, the creative process and the team work, to debrief about some tricky moments and issues that might need further elaboration or clarification. Players can get assigned projects to dwell into the clans.