“All Hands” is a new game about building community resilience, developed by Socialudo, and funded by the National Centre for Resilience.
Communities across Scotland are facing growing risks from flooding, extreme weather, and other climate-related challenges. But every community is different — with its own strengths, vulnerabilities, and access to services. To plan effectively for the future, we need to include local voices and lived experience.
What is “All Hands”?
All Hands is a free, co-produced serious game about community resilience, developed by Socialudo with funding from the National Centre for Resilience. It uses a fictional community facing a flooding crisis to help players explore how different people and organisations work together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.
The game was designed through a participatory process with community members, resilience professionals, housing staff, and emergency responders across Clackmannanshire and the Scottish Borders. Their experiences, priorities, and feedback shaped every aspect of the game, from the mechanics and language to the scenarios and materials.
It is a cooperative game. Players take on different stakeholder roles and must communicate, coordinate, and make difficult decisions together as a crisis unfolds. There are no individual winners — the group succeeds or fails together, reflecting the reality that community resilience depends on collaboration across organisations, services, and residents.
The game is not a simulation or a training exercise. It is designed to spark discussion, build understanding, and encourage players to think about risk, vulnerability, and preparedness in their own communities. Some of the most valuable moments happen not during the game itself, but in the conversations it prompts afterwards.
Who is the game for?
The game is designed for community groups, voluntary organisations, housing associations, schools, resilience partnerships, and anyone involved in or interested in community preparedness. It works well with mixed groups — bringing together professionals and community members in a shared space was one of its greatest strengths during development.
No prior knowledge of resilience planning is needed. The game uses plain language and simple mechanics, and is designed to be picked up and played without specialist facilitation. It is suitable for adults and young people, and has been highlighted by participants as a tool with particular potential for use in schools and youth settings.
A typical session takes around 60 minutes including the post-game debrief. It works best with four players, one per role, but can be adapted for larger or smaller groups by sharing or combining roles.
This free print-and-play game will be launched shortly, and available here.
Funded by the National Centre for Resilience, we've created a free, customisable serious game that allows communities to simulate future climate hazards and co-produce strategies to respond. It brings together local people, public services, and third sector groups in a shared space for planning, collaboration and action.
How It Works:
Game co-designed with communities in the Scottish Borders and Clackmannanshire to reflect their particular needs
Playtested in local settings with feedback loops
Developed into a downloadable, print-and-play resource with video guides
Freely available to anyone interested in community resilience
Who It’s For:
Community groups
Local authorities and services
Third sector organisations
Educators and resilience professionals
Want to Know More or Get Involved?
The Legacy
A creative, engaging way to build community resilience
A tool for planning, learning, and collaboration
A method for gathering data and influencing policy
A resource to be shared across Scotland and beyond