What happens when teens are invited not just to play—but to design, decide, and disrupt?

In a workshop room in Dallas, Texas, a group of teenagers gathered around a table and began to share their wishes for how they wanted adults to show up for them. One talked about the way their teacher dismissed them. Another reflected on the echo of a parent's words. "It's like being made of porcelain," one teen said. "Every time it happens, you crack a little." Together they asked, what if adults knew how much their words can hurt us? 

From that conversation, a game was born to help adults learn. It was called The Porcelain Child—and like the teens who made it, it doesn't flinch from the truth.

A GAME DESIGNED TO BE HEARD

The Porcelain Child is a teen-designed tabletop game about the impact of adult words and actions on young people. Through collaborative gameplay, players consider scenarios, choose reactions, and see—in real time—how words can hurt or heal. It's a mirror, a conversation starter, and a call to action.

         

Pictured are the teen-designed game materials from the tabletop game The Porcelain Child, including the body board (left) and card options (right).

Created by 25 teen designers in a Game Design Studio (GDS) co-hosted by iThrive Games at the History Co:Lab—in partnership with Big Thought and Fit and Faithful Living, and with generous support from the Siegel Family Endowment—The Porcelain Child was designed entirely by youth. From early brainstorms to the final prototype, the teens—who later named themselves Big Creators—led every step of the process.

What emerged was not just a game, but a powerful learning experience supportive of collaborative growth and the social-emotional skills needed to thrive as contributions in a connected world. "I usually do everything solo," one Big Creator shared. "But this made me realize how powerful it is to create with other people—and be heard."

LEARNING IN LAYERS

The Game Design Studio model is more than a method for making games—it's a process for making meaning. Rooted in learning science, adolescent development as well as systems and design thinking, Game Design Studio supports youth in analyzing real-world challenges, envisioning change, and expressing their truth through game design.

"Co-design in the Game Design Studio experience is about teens learning and playing together," shared Susan Rivers, Chief Scientist at iThrive Games, co-lead at the History Co:Lab and co-architect of the Game Design Studio model. "They learn best as they make something meaningful together. Through the creative collaboration process, they build trust, grapple with understanding the systems surrounding them, and express themselves. The process invites teens to use their voice and their lived experiences to contribute to important conversations and imagine what's possible. The game is an artifact of their learning and an invitation for others to engage with them."

               

Game Design Studio (GDS) is a teen-led and teen-centered learning experience that invites youth to turn their lens and lived experience into games that spark dialogue, connection, and change. Download and explore the GDS toolkit.

Game Design Studio offers a different way to learn-one centered on teens and where they are developmentally. 

"It just taught us how to communicate with each other and learn from each other," shared one Big Creator. "We all built off of each other to end up with this amazing game." Another added, "To be able to listen to other people's ideas and take it in and mix it together to get a final product—that's a big thing we are going to have to use."

RESONANCE BEYOND THE ROOM

In March 2025, the Big Creators debuted The Porcelain Child at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas. Invited by the Siegel Family Endowment, the team of teen designers facilitated playtesting sessions and shared their stories with funders, educators, and attendees from across the country.

The feedback was personal and profound:

"This game made me realize I've got work to do," said Gregg Behr, Executive Director of The Grable Foundation. "It felt personal."

"The relationship between play and learning is incredibly strong," said Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Impact at LEGO Education. "It provided an invitation to speak about issues in the family that are really difficult to uncover without play."

"It's a game I wish my parents had access to when I was a teen," shared Alicia Cagle, Youth Programming Manager at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. "..It's a great tool to prompt valuable conversations."

"It's a powerful conversation starter," said Jason Swanson, Senior Director of Strategic Foresight at KnowledgeWorks.

       

The teen design team behind The Porcelain Child was invited by the Siegel Family Endowment to present and playtest their game at the Stanford d.school lounge at SXSW EDU 2025 where adults engaged, reflected and offered feedback.

The Big Creators noticed the impact of their co-designed message, too. "Watching adults play the game, it gave me a different perspective," one said. "The parents who already had children were like, 'I could've done this differently.'" 

Some youth took away an even more lasting message: "Being part of the art team gave me a great idea of what I'd be getting into if I was to do work like this professionally," shared one Big Creator. 

Through co-design, they weren't just crafting gameplay—they were shaping a message. One that carried their truth, their experiences, and their hopes about disrupting adultism into places far beyond their original design table. In doing so, they discovered their strengths, clarified their values and realized their message—rooted in care, courage, and truth-could move people, shift conversation, and ripple far beyond the room.

COMMUNITY GROWN, RELATIONSHIP-DRIVEN

The Game Design Studio experience is designed to deepen relationships between teens and adults—showing what's possible when adults listen, support and step back to let teens lead. Nearly every Big Creator spoke to the impact of how adult facilitators show up during their co-design journey. "They gave us an open space," one teen shared. "They stepped back—but when we needed them, they stepped forward for us. So that really helped us grow."

That balance of support and respect was intentional. "When I say 'greatness,' we just want kids to get the best," shared Reggie Dupard, co-founder of Fit & Faithful Living. "We want our young people to know that if you need somebody in your life, we're here for you and we'll be that person that advocates for you."

Teen designers credited their team of adult collaborators-including our design team at iThrive Games/History Co:Lab, Big Thought's Armando Banchs, Evan Cleveland, Rachel Hull, and Denesha Ogunsegha; Art by Martell's Martell Holloway; and Fit & Faithful Living's LaChanda and Reggie Dupard, and the iThrive / History Co:Lab team—for creating space to explore, reflect and lead. The adults offered guidance when needed and consistently affirmed the genius and brilliance of the youth they worked alongside.

    

On Celebration Day, the teen designers behind The Porcelain Child celebrated their growth, reflected on their game and honored the intergenerational community that made it possible.

Big Thought's commitment to youth creativity through its Creator Archetype framework and direct-to-youth programming helped make this co-design experience possible. Their environment empowered teens to lead, explore, and shape meaningful artifacts of change. As Amarando Banchs, Sr. Manager, Creative Archetype, shared during the intergenerational team's Celebration Day, "These are the skills—grit, rigor, muddiness, storming and norming—that youth need to step into a world that's constantly shifting." He reminded the parents, guardians, friends of designers, and all listening that the most powerful artifact of this learning experience wasn't just the game—it was the teens themselves. "This work is about the heart. Look at the youth in the space that worked on this... because they're really the artifact."

On the culminating Celebration Day hosted at Big Thought's HQ, youth, families and collaborators gathered to honor what they built together. "This wasn't just a project," shared Fernande Raine, founder of and co-lead at History Co:Lab. "It was a coalition rooted in belief: belief in youth brilliance, and in the power of making meaning together."

MORE THAN A GAME

The Big Creators designed The Porcelain Child to do more than entertain—they designed it to invite adults into conversation, reflection, and change.

"This experience taught me how my voice can change situations I believe are unfair," shared one teen designer. "My hope is that adults reflect and realize how their actions impact a teen's mind," added another. "This game shows them," emphasized a third.

     

Early ideation vs. prototype phases of The Porcelain Child.

Through co-design, the youth behind the game transformed lived experiences into a critique of the systems that impact them. They deliberately designed mechanics, narratives, and choices to reveal how words and actions ripple through a young person's life. The result is an empathy-building, intergenerational dialogue tool that invites players to pause, reflect, and connect. As of May 2025, The Porcelain Child is being playtested across Dallas—on kitchen tables, in school gyms, and at community events—sparking conversations about listening, care, and the small moments that build or break trust between adults and youth. Each card played is a spark. Each round, a reflection. Each conversation, a step toward healing and change.

This game is just one example of what's possible through Game Design Studio—a model and toolkit used by educators and youth-serving institutions who believe in the power of young people to make meaningful change. Across schools, community programs, and even international settings, GDS invites teens to design tabletop games, digital stories, and immersive simulations that center their lived experiences and civic imagination.

Game Design Studio meets teens where they are—and offers  them the tools to imagine, build, and lead us somewhere better.

After leading their workshop at SXSW EDU 2025, the Big Creators stop for a candid, celebratory moment.

If you're a partner (i.e., educator, funder or youth-serving organization) ready to center teen voice in a transformational way—we invite you to connect.