In 2015, the United Nations launched a set of 17 aspirational goals called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an aim to address a myriad of urgent global problems with the objective of realising these goals by 2030 to create a better and happier world.

The 17 sustainable development goals are: 1) No Poverty; 2) Zero Hunger; 3) Good Health and Well-being; 4) Quality Education; 5) Gender Equality; 6) Clean Water and Sanitation; 7) Affordable and Clean Energy; 8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 10) Reduced Inequalities; 11) Sustainable Cities and Communities; 12) Responsible Consumption and Production; 13) Climate Action; 14) Life Below Water; 15) Life on Land; 16) Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; and, 17) Partnerships for the Goals

“United in Diversity” (UID) seeks to portray the goals in the “SDG Pyramid to Happiness” based on the Balinese philosophy Tri Hita Karana. This philosophy refers to the “Three Ways to Happiness” as maintaining the harmonies of people with people (humanitarian), people with nature (ecology), and people with the spiritual. Other ancient cultures and religions from Chinese, Hindu, Islam and Greek also share a similar philosophy to attain peace and happiness. They are also part of the IDEAS experiential leadership learning program which UID provides in partnership with MIT Sloan School of Management, Tsinghua University and University of Indonesia, among other distinguished partners.

The SDG Pyramid portrays the 17 goals by aligning them in a format where SDGs 1 to 10 are related to people issues, SDGs 11 to 15 to ecological issues, and last but not least SDGs 16 to 17 on peace and partnership represent the spiritual values, thus representing harmonies across the three realms, aligning closely with Secretary General Antonio Guterres quote on the triangle.

Seen through the kaleidoscope of the SDG Pyramid, the 17 SDGs are aligned to many cultures and a natural expression of the way of life and core values in many societies.

GAME INSTRUCTION

Game 1 – For Fun (Age 5+)

• How to Win? 

The first player to complete the SDG Pyramid (as shown in the diagram on below) will be the winner. The card at the top of the Pyramid (SDG logo) must be the LAST CARD to be placed when all the remaining 17 goals cards are completed in the Pyramid form. Read aloud “SDG PYRAMID!” when the SDG logo card is placed. CONGRATS YOU ARE THE HAPPY WINNER! 

• How to play? 

Each player per deck (bag), 2 players minimum.Combine all decks from all the players and shuffle.Distribute 5 cards for each player.Put the remaining cards in the centre face down. This will be the draw pile.

The player can begin to lay out their SDG tile cards face up on the table to form the SDG Pyramid. If there is a duplicate of SDG tile card or any Action card, the player should keep it in their hands and do not show to anyone.
Each player cannot have more than 3 cards in their hand. Any excess cards are to be put back into the draw pile and reshuffled.

Each player can pick up 2 cards from the draw pile during their turn and can play up to 5 cards (that is, lay out 5 cards or exercise their action cards). You do not need to play any of the cards if you do not want to. 
If the two Spiritual cards at the top of the pyramid are complete (it could be a Spiritual Link with an SDG 16 or SDG 17), you can evade 1 Challenge or 1 Disruption.

The action cards are: Disruptor, Challenge, People Link, Ecological Link, Spiritual Link and SDGs Link. 

Disruptor: Use this to disrupt the arrangement by taking out any one card from the SDG Pyramid arranged by any one player. Read out the words eg “SDG1 No Poverty” as you remove their card. Put this card back into the draw pile together with the disruptor card after your play. 

Challenge: Use this to draw one card from the hands of any one player. Read aloud for eg “SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals” the card you take from the player and use it for your own Pyramid or keep in your hands. Put the Challenge card back into the draw pile after play. If you draw a Challenge card from the player, you lose your Challenge card to the player you draw from. The player in turn gets “DOUBLE CHALLENGE” and can take all the cards in your hands or from any other player’s hands. 

People link: Use this to fill any missing link for the SDGs card 1-10. 

Ecological Link: Use this to fill any missing link for the SDGs card 11 – 15. 

Spiritual Link: Use this to fill any missing link for SDGs card 16 – 17. 

SDGs Link: Use this to fill any missing link for SDGs card 1 – 17.

At the end of the game, please keep the cards back into the bag in order, that is, SDG card 1-17, 6 action cards and SDG logo. Total 24 cards per bag.

Game 2 – For the Practitioners (14+)

• How to Win? 

The first player to complete the SDG Pyramid (as shown in the diagram on your right) will be the winner. The card at the top of the Pyramid (Sustainable Development Goals card) must be the LAST CARD placed when all the remaining 17 goals cards are completed in the Pyramid form. Read aloud “SDG PYRAMID!” when the SDG logo card is placed. CONGRATS YOU ARE THE HAPPY WINNER! 

• How to play?

Each player start after setting out their deck (bag) of cards to arrange the SDG Pyramid on the table as shown in the diagram. 

All the remaining cards are to be shuffled and placed in the centre face down as draw pile. The remaining cards are action cards namely Disruptor, Challenge, People Link, Ecological Link, Spiritual Link and SDGs Link.

Before the game starts, each player shall withdraw 3 SDG cards from the player’s pyramid seated on your right including the card at the top of the Pyramid (SDG logo card) and put back into the draw pile. Shuffle the draw pile.

Each player can pick two cards from the draw pile during their turn. Each player cannot have more than 3 cards in their hand. Any excess cards are to be put into the draw pile. 

Players should do as follows for the card they picked. 

Disruptor: Share an authentic experience or story on one disruption in one of the SDGs. For example ‘SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities: I faced prejudice and discrimination in my experience to integrate people with disability into workplaces’. If the response is convincing (other players can judge or based on mutual agreement), the player can then   proceed to use this card to disrupt any one of the players pyramid by taking one card from their pyramid and put it back into the draw pile together with the disruptor card.

Challenge: Share a personal/organisational experience or story on one challenge in one of the SDGs and a solution for it. For example ‘SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals: I worked with United in Diversity to inspire young people to collaborate for the SDGs in Indonesia through drama and music.’ If the response is convincing, (other players can judge or based on mutual agreement), the player can then proceed to take a card from any of the other player’s hand then use this card to fill their missing card in their pyramid or keep the card. Put the challenge card back into the draw pile after use. If you draw a Challenge card from the player, you lose your Challenge card to the player you draw from. The player in turn gets “DOUBLE CHALLENGE” and can take all the cards in your hands or from any other player’s hands. The player may keep the challenge card in hand if there are no cards to take from other players in the initial round.

People link: Share a personal/organisational experience or story on one of the people SDGs 1 to 10. The player can then proceed to use it to fill in any missing link in the  pyramid for SDGs card 1-10 or keep the card. 

Ecological Link: Share a personal/organisational experience or story on one of the ecological SDGs 11 to 15. The player can then proceed to use it to fill in any missing link in the pyramid for SDGs card 11 – 15 or keep the card.

Spiritual Link: Share a personal/organisational experience or story on one of the spiritual SDGs 16 to 17. The player can then proceed to use it to fill in any missing link in the pyramid for SDGs card 16-17 or keep the card.

SDGs Link:  Share with other players why it is important for you and your organisation to promote SDGs. The player can then proceed to use it to fill in any missing link in the pyramid for any SDGs card or keep the card. 
 
SDG Logo: The last card to be placed at the top of the Pyramid when all the remaining 17 goals cards are completed in the Pyramid form. Read aloud “SDG PYRAMID!” when the SDG logo  card is placed. CONGRATS YOU ARE THE HAPPY WINNER! 

At the end of the game, please keep the cards back into the bag in order, that is, SDG card1-17, 6 action cards and SDG logo. Total 24 cards per bag.