Back-to-back slide decks. Cameras off. A handful of questions at the end. For many CX leaders, that’s what a “strategy day” still looks like.

Now think about those scenes in Stranger Things where the kids are huddled around a table playing Dungeons & Dragons. They’re all in. They argue (in a good way). They remember tiny details of the story months later. Why? Because they’re emotionally in the story, rather than  passively consuming information.

What if we could borrow some simple tools from games, like Dungeons & Dragons sessions and escape rooms, to turn beige CX meetings into memorable, behavior-changing experiences? We spoke to Tim van den Boomen, interaction designer and experience‑room creator on the CX Cast. He shared some experience design tips that might help you turn your CX strategy into action with some game-based learning tips.

The trick is to stop acting like a presenter and start acting like a game master.

Most workshops are designed for content, not experience

When we run a workshop, or a CX engagement session, often the message is sound, but the experience is forgettable. Culture doesn’t shift because nobody felt anything. Three things typically go wrong. You:

  • Design for one “average attendee”. In reality, your audience includes achievers, explorers, socializers, and competitive types all motivated by different things.
  • Skip the “magic circle”. People arrive straight from email and Teams. You never explicitly invite them into a different set of rules, roles, and behaviors.
  • Under-use physicality. Everything happens in the attendees’ heads and on slides. Very little happens with hands, bodies, or props, so nothing sticks.

What CX leaders can steal from game design

You don’t need a Hollywood budget for this. In fact, constraints are a design advantage: they force you to clarify the story, the goal, and the few mechanics that matter. Great GMs and escape-room designers obsess over three things:

  1. Player types, not job titles. They ask: Who in this group wants to win? Who wants to explore? Who mainly wants to connect with colleagues? Then they design moments for each.
  2. The magic circle. A hat, a badge, a giant cardboard “customer” key — simple props that signal: “From now on, we’re in a different world with different rules.”
  3. A difficulty curve. They start with an easy puzzle to build confidence, then layer in time pressure, collaboration, and complexity. By the end, players are doing things they’d never attempt cold.

Gamify your next CX day

When you approach CX days as designed experiences, not just meetings with nicer coffee, you unlock the real power of gamification: not points and badges, but shared stories, emotions, and decisions that people remember and retell. That’s how culture shifts.

Next time you plan a CX workshop, channel your inner Mike form Stranger Things and:

  • Define the quest, not the agenda. Write one sentence in player language: “Today, we’re going to rescue our journey from drop-offs at onboarding,” or “We’re going to redesign complaints so customers actually feel heard.”
  • Cast clear roles. Give people hats, badges, or table tents as “Personas” (e.g., new customer, frontline agent, regulator). Ask them to argue from that role all day.
  • Design three key encounters. Instead of four presentations, build three progressive “encounters”: a simple warm-up puzzle, a tougher cross-functional challenge, and a final time-boxed decision.
  • Add light mechanics. Use timers, scoreboards, or limited “resource tokens” (budget, FTE, tech points) to create tension and trade-offs without turning it into a gimmick.
  • Playtest and debrief. Run a dry run with a small internal group. After the real session, debrief like a GM: What worked? Where did people stall? Which mechanics actually changed conversations?