The Thing from a Radical Future
How to Play
Imagination and storytelling have always been crucial to social movements. They have the power to inspire, to envision, and to show us paths forward that we might not otherwise see. In an era of overlapping crises, our ability to imagine and articulate radically different futures is more important than ever.
By playing this game and imagining concrete artifacts from possible futures, you'll:
Explore how transformative change could reshape daily life
Envision how communities might thrive under different systems
Get inspired to take action toward the futures we want to create
This isn't just about dreaming - it's about beginning to manifest the world we want to live in. Through collective imagination and creative thinking, we can better grasp what's possible and what steps we might take to get there. The futures we imagine together become seeds for the changes we wish to grow.
Click on the cards below to begin.
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Tap on each card to select a set of 3.
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Spend 3-5 minutes imagining and describing the object or scenario based on your card combination. Consider:
What does it look like?
How is it used?
Who benefits or suffers from its existence?
What story does this artifact tell about the society that created it?
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Share your creation. Use storytelling to bring your artifact to life and make its implications feel real and urgent.
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After each round, discuss:
How plausible is this future artifact?
What current trends or proposed policies might lead to this?
How could we work to prevent negative outcomes or promote positive alternatives?
What actions can we take today to shape the future we want?
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Play multiple rounds to explore various aspects of this potential future and to build a richer, more detailed vision of what's at stake.
Based on “The Thing From The Future” by Stuart Candy and Jeff Watson, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike 2.0 license.
Print & Play!
The Print-and-Play version has everything you need to explore radical futures. Download the PDF to access printable cards, instructions, playsheets, and blank cards for your own ideas. Simply print, cut, and start playing.
