Dataopolis Board Game View website

Datopolis is a board game about building things – services, websites, devices, apps, research – using closed and open data. It was designed and developed by Ellen Broad and Jeni Tennison at the Open Data Institute

It’s set in a town called Sheridan, which is gradually declining as shops close, teachers quit, hedgehogs go extinct and pollution rises. The tools players build contribute to making Sheridan a healthier, wealthier, happier place to live.

There’s a short version and a long version of Datopolis. The short version is useful for team workshops and away days – it can be played within 20 – 30 minutes, and gets people comfortable talking to each other and negotiating to build tools with data. The longer version is for people who like to play board games – it has added role cards, bad things happening in Sheridan and generally more complexity.