Turn a Wish into a Goal.

Goals are great. They help us focus our energy and produce the satisfaction of accomplishment. An achievable goal can be a powerful wellness tool. But setting an achievable goal may be difficult. How can we learn about effective goal setting? Depending on my learning style, I might read a book about goals, listen to a lecture, watch a video, fill out a form, write in a journal, talk with a mentor... Goal Quest Games ^TM offers a new method: Games about goal setting!
Our first game, Strengths and Troubles^TM: The Wellness Board Game, helps players realize their strengths and come up with wellness tools. Our second game, Goal Hero^TM, prepares them to set personal goals.
Goal Hero is a Role-Playing Game, an RPG adventure where players go on a quest. That quest is to turn Green the Meeple's wish into a goal. A meeple is a people token for game play. Green, our meeple in Goal Hero, has some problems and wishes for change.

The power of a Role-Playing Game

Players in an RPG:
1. Take the perspectives of others.
2. Use creative problem-solving skills.
3. Communicate and collaborate.

In Goal Hero, players go on a goal-setting adventure. But they're not setting their own goal, they're helping Green the Meeple set a goal.

Why help Green the Meeple set a goal?

One of Green's wishes launches the quest to set an effective goal. As players go forth with Green's wish, three things are happening:
1. The players have some distance and privacy.
   Players can remain objective and are not put on the spot revealing or defending their own personal goals. As one player said, "I'm not nervous working on Green's goal, but I'll still be thinking about mine."
2. The adventure provides an exercise in empathy, collaboration, and problem-solving.
3. As players work out Green's goal they learn the important elements of goal setting in a fun, non-threatening way.

The 8 Wellness Dimensions

The 8 Wellness Dimensions were identified by SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. We include them in each of our games because they provide focus on areas of life that may need changes. Green's problem is in one of these 8 areas.

A Strengths-Based Approach

To achieve any goal, resistance to change must be overcome. Our party of adventurers consider strengths that can help Green.

The Adventure Log

Players track the goal-setting adventure on their logs. When the game is finished the logs are theirs to keep. Filled out, the log provides a summary and an example for setting a workable goal. Printed on the back are a Strengths List and definitions of the Wellness Dimensions.