STRATEGY YOU CAN TEACH. PROGRESS YOU CAN SEE.
OBAN turns strategy into concrete learning experiences: focus, planning, cooperation and resilience — skills that transfer to the classroom, clubs and home. The current version is already usable as a guided recreational cognitive activity, even before the dedicated OBAN Academy and OBAN Access tracks.
Recreational cognitive use from day one
With its current ruleset, OBAN can be used as an innovative strategy game in a supervised setting: clubs, lunchtime sessions, after-school activities, youth centers or community venues.
Without changing the curriculum, OBAN provides a hands-on space to work on:
- Focused attention and sustained engagement;
- Strategic reasoning and planning ahead;
- Cooperation and shared decision-making;
- Resilience when dealing with mistakes and uncertainty.
A three-step roadmap
OBAN is more than a game: it’s a testbed for a full pedagogical ecosystem built together with partner institutions.
A playful foundation for very concrete skills
Even before OBAN Academy, the game is a powerful observation tool for group work, thinking out loud and managing a short, readable and fair educational e-sport format. The examples below mirror what teachers or facilitators can already observe in real sessions.
Group work: co-building a strategy
Game tableFormulate hypotheses, make thinking explicit, iterate quickly.
- Rotating roles: everyone speaks, everyone leads in turn.
- Strategic language: justify, anticipate, compare.
- Observable objectives: active listening, time management, task sharing.
Modelling: thinking out loud, guiding without doing it for them
Teacher stanceAdults don’t “play instead of” students. They unfold the logic, ask questions and let the group test its own ideas.
- Verbal prompts: “What are your options? What are you risking?”.
- Guiding without imposing: rephrasing rather than giving solutions.
- Valuing the process, not only the final score.
Educational e-sport: short, readable, fair
Match rhythmAn OBAN match follows the rhythm of an American-football “drive”: team planning → execution in a clear time window → reset and captain rotation.
- Adjustable formats (e.g. 4×8’/12’ per round, x rounds per session).
- Tempo that is readable on stream and manageable in class.
- Role rotation that prevents players from being locked into one position.
Inclusion: mixed teams, low pressure
Game climateCore rules encourage mixed teams (levels, profiles, personalities) and a pressure level that can be tuned to the group.
- No “best player = permanent captain” reflex.
- Shared thinking time that gives quieter voices space.
- Formats that can be softened for anxious or struggling students.
Attention
Stays on task; anticipates time; reduces distractions.
- Fewer reminders needed as the session progresses.
- Sense of time: respects turns and routines.
- Focus maintained during transitions.
Reasoning
Justifies choices; anticipates consequences; revises the plan.
- Uses “if… then…” or compares options.
- Explains cause → effect after a round.
- Adapts the plan when conditions change.
Cooperation
Shares turns; includes quieter voices; negotiates roles.
- Invites a peer to speak or decide.
- Respects rotation of roles / captaincy.
- Resolves simple disagreements using shared reference points.
Resilience
Manages frustration; tries alternatives; learns from mistakes.
- Bounces back after a loss without disruptive behaviour.
- Proposes a new line or role after a setback.
- Can name one takeaway at the end of the session.
Recreational cognitive use, easy to deploy
OBAN can already be hosted as an innovative strategy game inside your institution: club, workshop or supervised activity. No curriculum changes are required; it is a playful support serving transversal skills.
Strategy clubs, lunchtime sessions, youth centers
OBAN is well suited to 45–60 minute sessions with small groups: rule discovery, guided games, mini-tournaments. The framing stays recreational, but the cognitive impact is tangible.
- Groups of 8–16 players depending on the format.
- Possibility to mix levels and tracks.
- Facilitated by a teacher, staff member or external partner.
A “training ground” for the brain
Without claiming to be a heavy “serious game”, OBAN naturally trains:
- Global vision of a complex situation;
- Anticipation several moves ahead;
- Prioritisation and managing limited resources;
- Communication under time constraints.
What you need to get started
Our priority is to reduce logistical friction. Concretely:
- 1–2 spaces (classroom, multipurpose room, common area);
- A defined number of tables / setups depending on the version tested;
- A local contact (teacher, student life, management);
- A short debrief or survey at the end of the cycle.
One pilot high school, one dev school, one association
To structure OBAN Academy, we rely on a triangle of partners: a pilot high school, a game dev / computer-science school, and an association focused on accessibility and disability. Each brings its own expertise to the project.
The pedagogical testbed
The pilot high school is our main real-world lab: volunteer classes, reference teachers, live observations.
- Tests in both technological and general tracks.
- Feedback from teachers and students.
- Co-design of the first OBAN Academy sequences.
Students as co-creators
The dev school contributes by having its students improve the prototype and build supporting tools: interfaces, dashboards, analysis modules…
- Project-based learning centered on OBAN.
- Continuous back-and-forth with the OXXYMORE team.
- Progressive integration of teachers’ needs.
Inclusive by design
In parallel, a specialised association works with us on OBAN Access: a version tailored to players with disabilities.
- Co-design of accessibility options.
- Test workshops in association settings.
- Thinking through an inclusive economic model.
One shared project, different angles
Together, these partners anchor OBAN in real pedagogy, technological innovation and social impact.
- Cross-feedback (school, dev school, association).
- Joint roadmap for OBAN Academy & OBAN Access.
- Ability to showcase concrete field results.
OBAN Academy – towards a structured teaching tool
OBAN Academy is the pedagogical layer of the game: ready-to-use sessions, explicit objectives and resources for teachers. This evolution is built with pilot institutions, not on top of them.
Clear sequences for teachers
The ambition of OBAN Academy is to provide, over time:
- 45-minute sequences with objectives, flow and assessment ideas;
- Variants for different levels (upper-secondary, post-secondary, specific workshops);
- Linked skill sheets (teamwork, logic, creativity, stress management, etc.).
Built from real cases
Instead of a top-down design, OBAN Academy grows from real feedback from classrooms, association workshops and dev-school projects.
- Live observation of sessions.
- Interviews with teaching teams.
- Iterative versions of the teacher kit.
Highlighting pioneering partners
Institutions involved in the OBAN Academy pilot are highlighted as pioneers at the crossroads of gaming, e-sport and education.
- Mention (with consent) in our communications.
- Opportunities to co-present at events (conferences, fairs).
- Detailed feedback on observed impact with learners.
OBAN Access – including disability from the start
OBAN Access is the branch of the project focused on players with disabilities, co-developed with a specialised association. The goal: adapt rules, interfaces and support material so the game stays demanding, but never excluding.
Designing from real needs
The association brings its field expertise: types of disabilities, material constraints, session pace, mediation needs, etc.
- Test workshops in real-world conditions.
- Adjusting rules and session length.
- Thinking through physical, digital or hybrid support.
One universe, different audiences
OBAN Access and OBAN Academy share the same game universe, but target different audiences and constraints. The challenge is to keep global coherence while respecting each context.
- Sharing good practices between association and pilot institutions.
- Possibility of joint events (inclusive e-sport days, mixed workshops).
- Showcasing the inclusive dimension of the OBAN project.
How your institution can get involved
You can opt for a very simple entry point (recreational use only), or consider joining the OBAN Academy pilot straight away. In every case, the process is gradual and adapted to your constraints.
Initial meeting & scoping
An online or on-site meeting to understand your context:
- Which type of use you are interested in (recreational, pedagogical project, inclusion…).
- Estimated number of students / groups.
- Available time slots and spaces.
Pilot cycle in your institution
Implementation of a short OBAN workshop cycle (a few sessions), followed by a shared debrief.
- Test sessions with the current version of the game.
- Questionnaire or discussion at the end of the cycle.
- Joint decision on next steps (extension, OBAN Academy, inclusion projects…).
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