Parades is a board game initially created to be part of an exhibit curated by a cancer survivor.

The goal was to provide an activity to visitors that would allow them to complete their experience and have a better grasp of a survivor's journey.

Intended for a public setting, it was necessary for the game to be simple and quick enough so the most people could get a chance to play.

Coming up with an original concept for this game was a task that provided more difficulties than expected.

Education and fun are often difficult to combine but adding this unsettling theme to the mix made things quite harder.

Nevertheless, we managed to find the right blend by relying on true stories (that ended well) and on a concept that encourage cooperation but also competition.

At each turn, the moderator shares with the players what happened in the patient’s life and how his condition has evolved. They can receive explanations about medical terms or get more details on the situation thanks to a card.

The goal is for them to put themselves in the medical team’s shoes by finding the right combination of cards (each representing a medical specialist) and to provide the right treatment as fast and accurately as possible until the patient is cured. In order to spark more passionate and focused exchanges, we got rid of the traditional board and introduced a time limit.

The only board-like element is the life gauge of the patient that evolves depending on their answers and on events happening in the patients’ life.

Introducing a time limit could be seen as an hurdle for the communication, but as the players focused a lot more on the cards and on the information given to them, it only inspired them to talk, work together and pay more attention to the patient.