Standing at the crossroads, wondering which career path to take? You are not alone. Choosing the right career can feel like a guessing game. So, why not make it one? Coinciding with Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen’s birthday, the Department of Employment and Entrepreneurship under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment launched two games in the capital yesterday. It is a fun and engaging move to help students explore their skills and future careers.
The first game, Career Exploration & Personality Matching, is a card game where students match their personality traits to different professions.
By collecting personality and skill cards, players learn how their personal qualities and continuous upskilling can open doors to diverse career options.
The second game, Future Skills Quest, is a table-top game set in the unpredictable world of tomorrow’s job market.
Players face challenges, earn and trade tokens, and make strategic choices, building adaptability, foresight, and an understanding of evolving work trends.
The CEO of Nyingnor, the creative mind behind the project, said the games build on ideas to engage learners’ other senses to help them learn better.
“They are too focused on making the students realise something, that they forget that the point of a game is to be fun, right? So, our games are designed to be fun, foremost. And, you know, after you are done having fun, if you think about it, if you engage with some questions, which the game masters will do, then you actually end up learning a lot. Then you actually end up meeting the objectives as well,” said Phub Dorji, Game Developer/CEO, Nyingnor.
The games were also piloted in two schools in Thimphu and Tsirang before the launch.
“I feel the main purpose of this game was to teach us the life lessons that actually happen outside of our school life, and how we experience job life. So, with the challenges and everything included in the board game, we were able to see all those experiences hands-on as we are playing in the board game now,” said Tshewang Emsang Rai, a student, Motithang HSS.
“I feel that this is a perfect board game that has been designed for students, especially so that they can engage in different activities which are fun while also figuring out what they want to do in their lives,” said Trisha Nepal, another student at Motithang HSS.
The idea is to train school counsellors as game masters and distribute these games in schools.
“In schools, students are provided with career guidance classes. However, in terms of making them really understand their career path it is very difficult, so the career board game that was launched today would help make this very interactive, at the same time very a very self-realising activity for them,” said Kinley Wangmo, School Counsellor, Changangkha MSS, Thimphu.
In 2019, the Organisational Development Report indicated the lack of career counselling services in the ministry.
The report recommended creating a pool of career counselling professionals to reduce the mismatch in the supply and demand of labour to improve labour market outcomes.
As a result, in 2022, the Labour Market Information and Career Guidance Division was established.
Since then, the ministry has been going to schools and conducting career sessions, which the students say are not interactive.
“If you hear the opinion from students, they say that the current session in the school is not really exciting. It does not really give them a wow feeling. So, we thought, why not develop a very innovative way to provide this current, a recess session in schools. So, the answer for that was to come up with a board game,” said Sherab Zangpo, Chief Programme Officer, Labour Market Information & Career Guidance Division, MoICE.
If career decisions have you confused, maybe it is time to play your way through them.
Devika Pradhan
Edited by Phub Gyem
