In Germany you can buy our games everywhere where you can buy games and books
Our values
Since the foundation of Spielköpfe, we have been constantly thinking about what kind of company we want to be, or if we even want to be one at all. We believe in our vision of a fairer world and we see Spielköpfe as a meaningful way to contribute to it. To this end, we have defined 8 values to help us stay on the right track. We are already doing a lot to realise the values, but we want to do much more! Nevertheless, we struggle with some ambivalences and dilemmas and we would like to report transparently on these as well. So let’s go:
Gender equality
Diversity
Sustainability
Anticapitalism
Optimism
Appreciation
Transparency
Innovation
Gender equality
What we do:
We design products in a gender equitable way. We draw attention to sexism. We promote women. We understand feminism intersectionally. We use * (Gendersternchen) in trying to create gender equality in our speech (why?).
What we want:
We want to increasingly include non-binary and queer people. We are especially looking for non-binary and queer artists at the moment.
What we struggle with:
We need to find the right balance between “radically” doing things differently and still wanting to meet the needs of all people. We want to promote gender equality without pointing fingers, but sometimes we are just annoyed by repetitive discussions (e.g. whether feminism is still needed or whether it’s time to stop).
Diversity
What we do:
We work together with diverse people. We include diverse perspectives. We show diverse people. We are self-reflective, open-minded and open to criticism. We constantly educate ourselves intersectionally.
What we want:
We are currently a white, cis-female, abled and young core team, and we want to change that! Unfortunately, we don’t currently have the money to hire another person on a permanent basis. If we can hire another person, it is a clear goal to increase diversity.
What we struggle with:
Despite all of our reflections, we sometimes think that we only appeal to people who are similar to us.
We position ourselves as anti-racist, but despite this, or perhaps because of it, we know that it is a difficult undertaking to sell a product being white people that wants to be anti-racist. That’s why we are grateful for our great artists, but know that we need to expand our core team.
Sustainability
What we do:
We choose the most sustainable option (including production, transport, office life, packaging, finance). We combine social and environmental sustainability – internally and externally. We constantly reflect and review ourselves.
What we want:
Our company is becoming climate positive (our cards already are).
What we struggle with:
The balance between this value and the upper two, e.g. with our plastic cards. We can only reach everyday players, poker tournaments, casinos, etc. with plastic cards, as paper cards are not used here. This is exactly where the two values of gender justice and diversity need to go!
Anticapitalism
What we do:
We do not act capital-driven, but value-driven. All products/projects promote social progress and harm the environment as little as possible. We donate all profits that we not require for reinvestment, but at least 25 cents per deck sold. We do not make any promotional discounts (which are usually intended to stimulate consumption) above 5%, unless this pursues a social purpose. (e.g. Student Discount).
We do not offer quantity discounts above 1 €. We offer our traders’ prices to non-profit initiatives.What we want:
We will set a maximum salary. We will become apurpose company.
What we struggle with:
Selling a product in a world that doesn’t really need any more products and where as little as possible should be produced at the moment. Nevertheless, we naturally see the sense in our products. We are reluctant to engage in marketing and sales, but we want to spread our message of a fairer world.
We don’t want to give Facebook and co money for social media marketing, or spend money on marketing/advertising in general, but sometimes feel compelled to do so.
We are not on Amazon, and rightly so, and we don’t want to change that, but we would reach more people if we were.
Optimism
What we do:
We believe that the world can be changed for the better and we try to work towards that goal.
We learn from mistakes and continue to develop.
What we want:
We don’t want to be personally affected by hate speech and Männer lol (men lol) comments any more. It already works better than before, but there is still potential.
What we struggle with:
We actually question our impact and the meaningfulness of Spielköpfe almost daily – sometimes more sometimes less strongly. This is mainly due to the desperation points of our other values, which then affects optimism very much.
Affection
What we do:
We value the contribution of all people involved to the success of Spielköpfe and communicate this to the outside world. We recognise different ways of working and personalities and know that it is precisely this diversity that is needed. We live and promote a culture of mistakes, openness and appreciative feedback. We value people in their entirety at work, including illnesses, cycle fluctuations (we all have PMS) or private struggles. If necessary, this can be communicated openly and honestly and we support each other.
What we want:
Take more time for all the things on the left.
What we struggle with:
If there are time constraints or PMS annoyance throws a spanner in the works, but here we try to be transparent (see next point :D)
Transparency
What we do:
We communicate all decisions transparently and give reasons for them. Important figures, e.g. profits, salaries and use of money are accessible to all employees. Decisions can be discussed if necessary. Our mood and energy levels may also be openly communicated and taken into account.
What we want:
To make it more transparent to the outside world how our sales prices are made up and where the profits go (currently into the foundation fund for civilian sea rescue and into new products).
What we struggle with:
Finding time for transparency reports
Innovation
What we do:
We only design innovative products that are gender-responsive and diverse. We question the status quo, structures & designs of existing products and change them. We have ideas and implement them. We don’t make products that already exist (e.g. branded T-shirts or quartet games).
What we want:
To implement even more cool ideas!
What we struggle with:
Yes, sometimes we get it wrong, for example we don’t find our postcards quite so innovative afterwards, but that can sometimes happen.
