EasyToys: a brainstorming lab for sexual wellness games

Creating a board game is a big challenge. But do you know what’s an even bigger challenge? Designing sexually themed board games that are fun and break taboos. In just eight hours. Guess what happened that day…

EasyToys is a sexual wellness brand. Yes, it’s also an erotic online store. Not some sleazy, shady little shop, but a forward-thinking million-euro company that’s committed to sexual well-being. But as a loyal customer, you probably already knew that.

Besides toys, you can also order games from sister brand Tease & Please. And while there are some true classics among them, as a gamer, you wouldn’t play Pac-Man and Solitaire forever. It’s not much different with sexual wellness games. When trends change, a smart company adapts accordingly.

Brainstormlab

And what a challenge it was: sexual wellness games. Before your ears start turning red, these weren’t the typical “pants off and go for it” games. They were games that normalize sex, make it a topic of conversation, and can be played in groups of friends without things getting out of hand.

How do you pull something like that off? Well, by designing an insanely good session, of course. Long story short: the session consisted of four phases:

1. Research
2. Ideate
3. Prototype
4. PitchWas this long story too short? Read on.

Phase 1: Research

The creatives from EasyToys’ Brand Design department had no idea what was in store for them. When they entered the showroom, fifteen chairs were waiting. A chair in itself isn’t that exciting, but what was hanging on them? No, not lingerie sets—lab coats! A fun gimmick? Yes. But at the same time, a trigger to get everyone into the right mindset.

Yes, the first phase of the brainstorm was all about research. Armed with long white lab coats, notebooks, and laptops, the participants went through a stack of games to analyze why some worked and others didn’t. What game elements do the new games need? What conditions or requirements should we consider?

And no, the research stack didn’t consist solely of risqué games. There were also student games and classics from grandma’s time (back when everyone was still “proper”) ready to be examined.

Phase 2: Ideate

After about an hour and a half, the creatives couldn’t take it anymore: they were ready to start generating ideas. Right on time. Just the way we do at Brain Fuel, we guided everyone through a methodical process of warm-ups, brain dumps, coming up with ridiculous ideas, picking out the potential, and ruthlessly killing our darlings.

In just a few hours, the three teams went from zero ideas, to three hundred ideas, to a top three, and even a consolation prize. Brainstorming may look fun, but make no mistake: it’s hard work (and yes, it’s fun too).

Phase 3: Protoype


For many organizations, prototyping is the most exciting phase, but the EasyToyers are no strangers to a challenge. Of course, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but the teams had been carefully assembled in advance by Melanie, the head of the department, who thoughtfully balanced the different disciplines. About the teams: from designers to photographers, and from videographers to copywriters; there was a little bit of everything. At the same time, we also considered the Brain Fuel creativity archetypes. Did the groups have enough Wizards and not too many Captains?

But let’s be honest: if you can design a dildo package, you can definitely crank out a sexual wellness game prototype in just two hours.


Phase 4: Pitch

But which games are we actually going to develop? Surely you can’t decide that in just one day? Oh yes, you can, especially when EasyToys invites five top dogs from the organization to act as judges.

Here’s a bit of namedropping:

CEO – Eric Idema
Head of Brand Design – Melanie Bos
Head of Purchasing – Ronald Kamst
Sales – Davey Ottema
Strategic Purchase Manager – Sjoerd Wijmenga

The teams pitch their consolation prize, third place, and second place ideas all in quick succession. The number one idea gets extra attention. Amid all the applause, laughter, and cheering, the judges fill their notepads with comments.

After fifteen minutes of anxious waiting for the jury’s verdict, the climax finally arrives. The jury returns, excited about not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, but eight of the twelve games developed. In particular, [CENSORED], [CENSORED], and [MORE CENSORED] are crowd favorites.

Annoyed by all the secrecy? You won’t have to wait long: these games are hitting the market this year. When exactly? Keep an eye on EasyToys.nl and BrainFuel.nl, and you’ll find out soon enough.

TESTIMONIAL

Melanie Bos – Head of Brand Design

During the brainstorm session with BrainFuel, I was particularly inspired by their energetic and methodical approach. They manage to stimulate creativity through structured processes, which proved essential in coming up with innovative and taboo-breaking sexual wellness games.

Their ability to quickly guide us through the various brainstorming phases, from research to prototyping, was impressive and extremely effective. This day was not only an exercise in innovation but also a powerful example of how focused creativity can lead to rapid, tangible results.

I don’t have an erotic webshop, but I do want a brainstorming session.

Let’s get it on. Send an email to info@brainfuel.nl or call +31 (0)58 203 80 33.