Earlier this year, we shared a story of a game emerging from a rather unlikely place.

“In one meeting among the troupe at Amble Studio, someone said something we needed to capture. We’ve been using Trello, a platform that helps teams organise and prioritise tasks they need to accomplish.

“Chuck it in the Trello,” said Ambler Logan. Or rather, that’s what he tried to say. What actually came out of his mouth was “Truck it in the Cello!”

After a good laugh, fellow troupe member Hailey said in jest “That sounds like a good idea for a game.”

It was a joke, but the instant she said it, Logan’s game designer cogs started turning…”

At first, it started out as nothing more than a fun design challenge. How might we take a platform designed to help teams prioritise and coordinate tasks, and make a genuinely fun game out of it?

[‘In Truck It, players collaborate to complete an elaborate jewel heist]

What Logan first produced in a creative blur was little more than a concept. Players would take on the role of musicians undertaking a heist. Tickets on the Trello board would represent characters and challenges. The ultimate goal was to sneak stolen jewels out of the theatre, hidden in a cello case! The name of the game? ‘Truck it in the Cello’! (or ‘Truck It’ for short).

When Logan brought it to Amble, what emerged as we spoke about it was a realisation: ‘Truck It’ presents more than just an opportunity for a new way to play together. It could be the start of a new way to teach teams about teamworking platforms and software.

So many workplaces use tools like Trello, Jira or Microsoft Planner, to coordinate and organise. For team members new to these tools, they can seem confusing or overwhelming. Other colleagues may just have difficulty adopting digital tools, or remembering to check them and keep them up to date. How can this be overcome?

Teamwork is a social activity; we do it together. Too often tools like Trello can be given to one member of the team to manage, while everyone else barely interacts with it. The social nature of this teamwork is thus diminished, and this can have other, lingering side effects. What really makes tools like Trello sing is when a team develops its own culture and processes around how to use that tool for their own needs.

And that’s where play comes in! Play is a social activity that draws people together. Games often have a win condition, which provides players with motivation to actively engage, rather than passively watch or listen. Games are often received as more inviting than, say seminars, and this excitement brings energy to the team that can encourage them to enjoy the learning more easefully. This ease allows players to explore, have fun, and quickly iterate their learning.

Because ‘it’s only a game’, players are safe to ask questions and make mistakes. This encourages deeper, more engaged learning, and lowers inhibitions about asking for help or getting things wrong. And making mistakes is a great way to learn. So Truck It may be a game, but it is also a learning tool. The sense of play and exploration you get right from the start makes successful adoption of a tool like Trello all the more likely.

And that’s our hope for Truck it in the Cello.

Rather than teach a team about Trello by talking at them, you can better engage them by putting them in a situation where they actually use it themselves, as a team, in real time. Learners get to put their skills into practice immediately, with their team there to support them. Plus they get to know their colleagues and build relationships over something fun and memorable.

Want to try it yourself? Truck it in the Cello is now in Open Beta! If you’ve always wanted to commit jewel theft with your colleagues, now you can. The webpage is here! It is recommended at least one of the team is already somewhat familiar with Trello to ease everyone in.

If you play Truck It, let us know how your heist goes! Were you successful, or did you get caught? And how confident do you feel using Trello now?

This article was written by Logan Timmins on Wurundjeri land. Amble Studio pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

Banner image by Ira Seredipity. Final article image by Mimi Thian.