In early 2023, Boho researched, created and presented The Best Kelp Secrets—a narrative tabletop game in which participants take on the identities of various user groups occupying a fictional East Coast Tasmanian town, as well as the surrounding marine ecology. Commissioned by and researched in partnership with CSIRO Tasmania, The Best Kelp Secrets is a tight 75-minute tour of a single coastal town amidst big and inevitable ecological, social and economic changes.

From Southern Rock Lobsters to General Store owners, from families with particular socio-economic needs to local business operators, players inhabit different perspectives in order to steer the future of their beloved town into its best possible iteration,

The Best Kelp Secrets is hands-on, with a branching narrative contingent on the win-loss outcomes of each mini-game. Concepts communicated in the game include systems modelling, thresholds and tipping points, mapping futures, trade-offs and collaborative versus individual decision-making.

Appropriate for policy-makers and representatives of council, coastal and marine businesses, conferences, environmental or science groups, community leaders and festival audiences.

SCIENCE & FUNDING PARTNER
In researching and creating this work, Boho worked with scientists Dr Jess Melbourne Thomas and Dr Delphi Ward as part of CSIRO Tasmania’s Future States project.