Generation Y

Sonja Groiss (AT), Anna Kaufmann (AT)

u19 winner: Honorary Mention


Generation Y is a multi-player board game about digitization’s downside. Its target audience is young people age 14 and up; its focus is on the digitization process’ inexorable advance.

Generation Y deliberately dispenses with a digital medium – despite the complexity of this topic – so that players can consider digitisation from a perspective that facilitates a critical, communicative encounter with the issues.

Generation Y / Sonja Groiss (AT), Anna Kaufmann (AT), Credit: vog.photo

At first, the hard part was translating the digitization theme into a card game and coming up with a design concept that takes leave of even the slightest hint of the analogue. Accordingly, we strove to develop a futuristic look – the illustrations were generated by computer, and the rules of play as well as the packaging took rather unconventional approaches. Plus, the game is enriched with a wealth of valuable information presented in the form of various scenarios inspired by actual events – some that have occurred, some currently emerging – meant to give players food for thought and thus provide the basis for interesting discussions. This influences the course of play, and spotlights potential negative developments and the fact that technological innovation does not only have positive consequences. Furthermore, Generation Y explains concepts like “disruptive technology” and “social credit system.” Ultimately, the game constitutes an updated possibility to engage in interpersonal communication that is not filtered through social media. The central question: When does innovation stop and where does the systematic restriction of basic democratic freedoms begin?


Sonja Groiss (b.1998) and Anna Kaufmann (b.1998) were classmates at Die Graphische, Vienna’s secondary school for visual communication and media technology: “We find the subject of digitization incredibly interesting and are excited to see what the future will bring. Plus, we both enjoy designing things and we each have an eye for detail. We assigned the individual project tasks in accordance with our respective strengths and interests in graphic design and illustration.”