Odyssey of Peace: A Board Game as a Tool for Peace, Inclusion, and Sustainable Development

How do we explain to children and young people that peace is something we learn, practice, and build—just like any other skill? The answer lies in Odyssey of Peace — an innovative board game that shows how trust, cooperation, and sustainable development can be learned through play, togetherness, and creativity.

Odyssey of Peace is a new educational board game developed within the Game-Based Learning Lab, created under the project “Youth for Inclusion, Equality and Trust / Moving Us Closer”, implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina by UNFPA in partnership with local governments, with support from the UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and the Embassy of Italy in BiH.

Children and young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are accustomed to workshops, round tables, and trainings. Yet few activities have ever felt as natural and familiar to them as—a game.

Odyssey of Peace is designed to awaken what matters most in learning: curiosity and a sense of belonging.
The game incorporates local symbols, cultural motifs, and familiar stories, helping children immediately recognize that the world on the board is their own—their towns, their values, their shared future.

It is no coincidence that this game was created together with the very children and youth who use it today. More than 1,200 children and young people, along with their teachers from over 20 municipalities and cities across the country — including Bosanski Petrovac, Brčko, Ribnik, Tuzla, Srebrenik, Lukavac, Sarajevo, East Sarajevo, Zenica, Travnik, Bugojno, Foča, Goražde, Čajniče, Mostar, Stolac and Trebinje — took part in the development and testing. Their feedback shaped the game’s rules, ensuring that every card, every figure, and every task carries meaning that is both understood and felt.

Evaluation results among children, teachers, and education authorities who have tested the game confirm a shared view: Odyssey of Peace deserves a permanent place in classrooms, as well as on the shelves of school and city libraries.

The goal is not to defeat others — the goal is to win together

For Iva Kovačević, a student at Veselin Masleša Primary School in Foča, the essence of Odyssey of Peace is not about defeating an opponent but about finding solutions together.

“I won first place at the Odyssey of Peace tournament, but it’s clear to me the goal wasn’t the competition — it was learning and exploring together. I especially liked that messages of peace are calls to respect differences, care for each other, and care for nature.”

For Draženka Penavić, a teacher at the Jozo Martinović Secondary School of Economics in Mostar, this game is a tool of peace education — a way to learn trust, understanding, and sustainable development through shared play. She now uses it as a regular part of her classes.

“I was among the first teachers who had the opportunity to see and test Odyssey of Peace. I now gladly use it with my students. We need more innovative tools to learn about peace and for peace, and I warmly recommend this peace-education tool to all my colleagues.”

Senad Osmanović, Head of the Department for Education of the Brčko District Government, adds:

“Odyssey of Peace is a well-designed, pedagogically grounded activity that combines creative thinking, teamwork, and non-violent communication. It helps children develop social skills, strengthen empathy, and learn how to resolve conflicts constructively — the very foundations of the education we strive for.”

How Odyssey of Peace Is Played

The game follows the core principles of the global Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, promotes the idea of positive peace, and encourages the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At the start of the game, each player receives a Task Card that defines their district. Players must then develop the economic and social potential of that district by collecting three types of crests — representing smart, sustainable, and creative development.

• Blue crests represent smart and inclusive development, requiring players to use technology to ensure transparency, inclusion, and efficiency in managing public goods.
• Orange crests represent the creative economy, encouraging care for cultural heritage and the use of local symbols to create and promote new products and services.
• Green crests promote responsible production and consumption, renewable energy use, and care for present and future generations.

Resources are collected on the main game board, where players move using a special figurine — the Stećak of Peace — inspired by a famous motif from the Radimlja necropolis near Stolac.
The figure of a person standing upright with a raised open hand symbolizes welcome; in the game, it reminds players that they are partners, not opponents, and that progress comes through exchanging ideas, sharing resources, and working together.

A key component of the game is the People Cards, which players cannot buy or win.
To receive a People Card, a player must demonstrate responsible, fair, and sustainable leadership of their district.
Each card represents real individuals from local communities — people who advanced peace, human rights, solidarity, and social justice, including those from minority or marginalized groups, those who faced injustice, and even those who once held power but chose the path of peace, rule of law, and dignity for all.

By doing so, Odyssey of Peace connects abstract concepts like peace and sustainable development to real human stories, turning them into lived experience for children and youth.

A Game Where Everyone Loses if Anyone Starts a War

Players can continue to develop and populate their districts as long as there is peace on the main board.
But if even one player lands on a war field — everything stops.

No matter how many resources were collected, how many cities were built, or how far players progressed — war destroys everything.
This illustrates the devastating impact of conflict, where everyone loses and no one emerges as a winner.

To prevent war, players must cooperate, and can call on the Armies of Peace:
Empathy, Dialogue, Respect for Diversity, and Care for the Environment.

More Than a Game — A Lesson in the Kind of Society We Want to Build

Odyssey of Peace is not just a game.
It is a classroom of the future — a space where children learn about the society they wish to create: one rooted in understanding, creativity, and solidarity.

It reminds us that children and youth in BiH are not merely a “target group,” but partners in building peace.
And it shows that investing in peace begins here — in the classroom, among friends, with a smile, a dice roll, and a small figurine called the Stećak of Peace.

Because in this game, just like in life,
we all win only when we win together.