Euro Casino

Aims of the tool

It is a teamwork game, which makes it a great tool to foster dialogue and increase interpersonal competences, to develop leadership skills and assume responsibilities in a fun, yet serious way. It is also a strategy game, which allows participants to explore ways of setting and achieving a common goal within a team, take risks and learn from mistakes. Moreover, the large scale of possibilities to evaluate knowledge, skills and attitudes achieved during one specific programme (by challenging participants with specific related tasks) makes it a good option for any final non-formal evaluation activity.

Description of the tool

It consists of a simulation of a real casino, where each table brings new challenges for the participants. Depending on the nature of the programme we want to evaluate, the casino can have a very diverse range of tables (stocks, questions and gambling, psychomotrical challenges, memory or board games, etc.). Each team ​(4-6 people) ​has an equal amount of credits to start with​ ​and 2 minutes to set up a strategy.​ ​The tables with challenges get opened one by one, starting with the safest options. ​After 30 minutes, all ​tables are opened. To take a challenge they have to pay. Each facilitator at the table can choose its own strategy​ (they can change price, make special offers, accept to negotiate if asked etc.) and advertise the challenge like in a real casino​. ​​The​ ​team​ ​which has biggest amount ​of credits ​in the end wins.

Suggestions
- Make sure you have enough facilitators to share the roles. During the game you will need at least 1 person/table. You can also use one person to sell drinks or Internet connection​, one to take the unattended credits and drop credits on the floor to see what others do​. ​Also, if you want to record this on camera, do not count on table facilitators or participants, once they are in the game they will forget to press play (set up the camera on Auto or have someone there just for this).
- Make sure you have enough time to prepare the setting.​ Play casino music, ​use colour lights, ​balloons, dress formally, give tickets at the entrance.​ Be creative!
​- Being a very intense experience, prepare the debriefing really well.
- Make the challenges relevant for your project. For example, if your project is an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange about Entrepreneurship, the Question table can have: questions regarding the topic of the project (info found out during the sessions), general questions about different cultural aspects of the countries represented in the project (experienced during intercultural night) or the European Union and Erasmus+ programme and also Monopoly-like challenges (lose/win credits, take another question, go to another table with challenges, etc.).