Games BW
GiG xLab @ Serious Play Conference
From Play to Practice: A Health Innovation Case
June 18, 2026, KUZ Mainz, 4:30 PM–6:00 PM
What if Walt Disney had encountered a real-world health challenge and set out to solve it using game thinking? In this 60-90-minute hands-on session at the Serious Play Conference in Mainz, we explore exactly that through a micro xLab — a condensed, case-based learning format grounded in the Case Method used at Harvard.
No prior preparation needed. We begin by reading a Quick Case — a short, authentic scenario from healthcare practice that presents a genuine challenge. Then, we walk through Walt Disney's creative strategy to see what solutions emerge:
- Dreamer – What unbounded, playful ideas could address this challenge using game design principles?
- Realist – How could we rapidly prototype and test a viable solution? What partnerships, tools, and timelines would we need to move from idea to testable prototype in a healthcare context
- Critic – What regulatory, ethical, and operational barriers might we encounter? How do we navigate the health sector's constraints?
This workshop showcases how GiG – Games und Gamification im Gesundheitswesen bridges games and healthcare, turning gamification into actionable innovation pathways that work within real-world health systems.
Participants will:
- Experience the Case Method and Disney Creative Strategy as practical tools for collaborative problem-solving.
- Learn how to translate game design expertise into healthcare-specific solutions.
- Understand rapid prototyping approaches for health innovations — identifying what's needed to move from concept to testable prototype quickly.
- Discover how to anticipate and navigate regulatory and operational constraints in the health sector, moving beyond hesitation into pragmatic pathways.
- Gain insights into cross-sector innovation ecosystems where games and health create mutual value.
With 25 years of experience in the creative industries, starting in his parents’ print shop, through an apprenticeship in advertising at Grey Worldwide, working as an assistant director and production manager for TV and Hollywood films, and later training as a producer for computer and video games, Christoph Brosius now operates at the intersection of sectors.
To bring knowledge and methods from the games industry into other fields, he co-founded the game thinking agency Die Hobrechts in 2011 and is now CEO of the e-mental-health company Circumradius. In 2024, after 10 years of development, Circumradius brought RADIUS, a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), into certification and into a multi-center study funded by the German Innovation Fund.
Alongside his entrepreneurial work, Christoph has, since 2013, designed and facilitated numerous conferences, workshops, and innovation camps at national and regional level, with a focus on cross-sector innovation involving the cultural and creative industries – including for the GiG initiative.
Dr.
Andrea
Buchholz
Leiterin Projektteam Talent- und Forschungsförderung
Unit Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft