The Speculation Game is a hybrid speculative design tool that invites participants to explore possible futures of technology. Developed as both a physical card game and an online interactive experience, it reveals the underlying assumptions, values, and power structures embedded in emerging digital systems.
Through curated prompts and scenario-based challenges, the game encourages players to imagine unexpected outcomes, confront ethical dilemmas, and negotiate conflicting perspectives. It offers a structured yet playful way to surface hidden societal and technological implications that typically remain unexamined.
The physical version consists of a deck of prompting cards that players combine to construct unexpected future worlds. These speculative prompts push participants beyond familiar narratives and support critical examination of the infrastructures that shape digital life. The online version provides a parallel experience, making futures thinking accessible to broader audiences.
By combining play, reflection, and critical speculation, The Speculation Game offers an approachable way to engage with complex technological questions and to broaden our understanding of how digital systems might shape society.
The Speculation Game has been developed into a workshop format that has been facilitated in multiple educational and public contexts. In September 2025, the workshop was carried out with students of the Dark Tech Studio at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, where it supported critical reflection within a technology-focused learning environment. It was also facilitated on the 15th of October 2025 during the Society 5.0 Festival, engaging a diverse group of participants in collective speculation and debate about long-term technological transformations.
By blending play, critical reflection, and collaborative storytelling, The Speculation Game offers an accessible and engaging way to explore how technological systems might evolve — and how we might choose to shape them.
Play the game on vannoordenne.github.io/speculation-game