A tabletop system built on two first-principles theories and two decades of original research, for developing the strategic thinking that AI makes more urgent.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, April 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Across classrooms, workshops, and coaching sessions, the practitioners who develop strategic thinking in others are facing the same problem: their students are turning to AI for the reasoning these professionals have spent careers building. The shift is systemic — AI-driven cognitive offloading is eroding capabilities that existing tools were never designed to protect. Today, researcher and educator Cristian Mitreanu launched a Kickstarter campaign for OFMOS® Essential — a tabletop system for developing strategic thinking through play, grounded in two decades of original research. The system includes a strategy game for 2–4 players, five structured learning solutions aligned to the Five Business Big Pictures framework, and facilitator guides — three available today as free downloads, covering the Individual, Human-AI, and Product Levels.
The game is built on two first-principles theories: the One-Need Theory of Behavior and the Ofmos Theory of Business, developed over more than twenty years. Its mechanics are direct expressions of the dynamics those theories describe. The five learning solutions are structured by the Five Business Big Pictures, a framework published one week before this campaign that identifies five levels at which strategic thinking operates, from the individual decision to the economy.
The rules take minutes to learn. Each player — as CEO — manages a portfolio of nine products across nine environments on a shared 81-position board. Every turn, the CEO takes one action — launch, commoditize, innovate (3 types), or retire — each with consequences that ripple across the board. Synergy formations between adjacent products are achieved deliberately and generate bonus points. Players can eliminate competitors’ products, adding adversarial pressure. The game is for ages 14+ and plays in three modes: pure abstract strategy, business simulation with debriefs, or the core of a strategy learning system. No business knowledge required.
Educators deploy it as a foundation for strategy courses or a capstone under competitive pressure. L&D professionals integrate it into workshops, executive education, and leadership development. Coaches use it to surface a client’s strategic patterns in real time. Parents play it with teenagers as equals.
The Kickstarter campaign offers the main edition of OFMOS® Essential — a premium tabletop experience designed for a lifetime of play and learning. The set includes 36 solid-fill acrylic pieces in four colors, nine environment tiles forming the continuous 81-position board, and a rulebook — packaged as a considered minimalist object whose aesthetic belongs among strategy books and beautifully printed art volumes.
Early bird pricing is $85 per set. Standard is $100. Bundles for schools and organizations are available. The campaign runs 33 days through May 31, 2026.
“You start by playing — no theory, no business context, just the game,” said Mitreanu. “The mechanics pull you in. You feel commoditization before you can name it. The system is designed for that progression — from a single abstract game session to the full depth of the Five Business Big Pictures.”
OFMOS® Essential is the first published entry in a family of tabletop strategy games and simulations.
About the Developer
Cristian Mitreanu is a behavior and strategy researcher, product professional, and educator based in San Francisco. His research, begun in 2002, produced two foundational theories — the One-Need Theory of Behavior and the Ofmos Theory of Business — and the game system at the core of OFMOS®. He has taught at Stanford Continuing Studies, published in MIT Sloan Management Review, and founded TEDxUIUC. He holds an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and degrees from Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania.
About Ofmos Universe
Ofmos Universe — The Human Strategist Platform™ — empowers professionals, students, and lifelong learners with the strategic thinking capabilities essential in a business-centric, AI-powered world. Anchored in two foundational theories, it delivers through four pillars: OFMOS® (games), BizBigPic™ (courses), Spointra™ (books), and RedefiningStrategy™ (tools and consulting). OFMOS® Essential is the core of five strategy learning solutions structured by the Five Business Big Pictures, a framework operating from the individual decision to the economy. Patents: US11285378, USD833533.
Cristian Mitreanu
Ofmos Universe
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