Biotechopoly™ Antibody Edition: learn about careers through game play

Cross posted at InnovATEBIO.org

At long last, Biotechopoly™: Antibody Edition is available from The Game Crafter.  We are using a print-on-demand format to make the game available for the cost of materials and printing. Plan ahead. It will take about three weeks for the game to be printed and shipped.

You may have seen earlier versions demonstrated in our ATE project talk, or at the Biotech Summit, HI TEC, or the ATE PI conference.

How does it work?

In the game, players move their products around the inside of the board and their companies around the outside.  The products move from pre-clinical studies to phase I, phase II/III,and finally to market.  To get from one phase to the next, players must obtain data and documents. To get these data and documents, they need to hire employees and raise funds.

Companies move by rolling dice. Sometimes, a company will encounter luck (good or bad) or karma (usually bad).  Companies can also take out loans and sue each other.

All the scenarios on the karma and luck cards come from real stories.  We added QR codes to the luck cards in case you'd like to learn about the back story.

Recommendations for teachers:

1. Preparation: before playing:

A. Sort the career cards into four groups.  Each team will get a set.

B. Sort the data and document cards into four sets for each phase.  You will use one set for each team.

2. Have your students download the instructions from The Game Crafter and read them ahead of time. You should print a copy for each team to use during the game.

3. In our experience, it works best to have teams of players.  When you play in a team, one person can be assigned to keep track of the money.  You also want to make sure your company remembers to collect their funds. 

4. We've been able to play the game in slightly over an hour.  To make the game go faster, have each team hire their regulatory specialist, in addition to their operations manager, at the beginning of the game.

Other advice:

Dr. Margaret Bryans, Montgomery County Community College, has her students research and choose their antibody products before playing the game. Over 100 antibody-based drugs have been approved by the FDA.  You can find a list of antibody drugs that are either approved by the FDA or EU regulatory bodies or in review at The Antibody Society https://www.antibodysociety.org/resources/approved-antibodies/