HOW UNPACK COMPARES.

If you're weighing UNPACK against LEGO Serious Play, activity-based kits or a hired experiential provider, this page is for you.

It's written straight... these are different delivery models built for different jobs and we've included where the others are the better choice.

UNPACK electronic modules in play at a Learning Technologies exhibition stand in London

In playLearning Technologies, London

HIRE IT, OR OWN IT.

You hire it

A facilitator or provider brings the experience, runs it and leaves with it. Every session is a new booking and the capability never transfers to your team.

You own it

The kit, the content and the trained facilitators are yours. Every session after the first costs you a meeting room booking.

SIDE BY SIDE.

	UNPACK	LEGO Serious Play	MTa-style activity kits	Hired providers
Who runs it	Your own trained team	A certified facilitator, usually external	Your facilitator or theirs	The provider, every time
What you own	The kit, the facilitation hub access and your scenarios	The bricks; the method needs the facilitator	The kit and manuals	Nothing after the event
Content	Bespoke to your organisation, in your brand where required	Generic medium, facilitator shapes meaning	Generic activities, broadly applicable	Provider's formats, occasionally tailored
Customisation	Scenarios written around your values, strategy and language, with RAL matched hardware built in our Edinburgh workshop	The medium is fixed by design	Standard equipment, standard activities	Occasional tailoring, owned by the provider not you
The pressure	Built into the hardware; clock, lighting, audio, evolving scenario	None by design	Light, task-based	High on the day, provider-dependent
Behavioural evidence	Timestamped observations in the Facilitator Hub	Facilitator's reading of the room	Structured review discussion	Provider's debrief notes, if any
Getting your people trained	Train-the-trainer included in the kit price	Facilitator certification is a separate per-person course, typically several thousand pounds	Training courses available at additional cost	Not applicable: you never run it yourself
Cost model	Once, then every session is yours	Per facilitated session, plus certification to run it in-house	Once for the kit, facilitation and training extra	Per event, forever
Best at	Team performance under pressure, made visible and repeatable Explaining content and concepts to an engaged audience	Strategy, alignment and shared understanding	Structured experiential learning on a budget	A one-off flagship event Larger single day events

UNPACK

Who runs it: Your own trained team
What you own: The kit, the facilitation hub access and your scenarios
Content: Bespoke to your organisation, in your brand where required
Customisation: Scenarios written around your values, strategy and language, with RAL matched hardware built in our Edinburgh workshop
The pressure: Built into the hardware; clock, lighting, audio, evolving scenario
Behavioural evidence: Timestamped observations in the Facilitator Hub
Getting your people trained: Train-the-trainer included in the kit price
Cost model: Once, then every session is yours
Best at: Team performance under pressure, made visible and repeatable Explaining content and concepts to an engaged audience

LEGO Serious Play

Who runs it: A certified facilitator, usually external
What you own: The bricks; the method needs the facilitator
Content: Generic medium, facilitator shapes meaning
Customisation: The medium is fixed by design
The pressure: None by design
Behavioural evidence: Facilitator's reading of the room
Getting your people trained: Facilitator certification is a separate per-person course, typically several thousand pounds
Cost model: Per facilitated session, plus certification to run it in-house
Best at: Strategy, alignment and shared understanding

MTa-style activity kits

Who runs it: Your facilitator or theirs
What you own: The kit and manuals
Content: Generic activities, broadly applicable
Customisation: Standard equipment, standard activities
The pressure: Light, task-based
Behavioural evidence: Structured review discussion
Getting your people trained: Training courses available at additional cost
Cost model: Once for the kit, facilitation and training extra
Best at: Structured experiential learning on a budget

Hired providers

Who runs it: The provider, every time
What you own: Nothing after the event
Content: Provider's formats, occasionally tailored
Customisation: Occasional tailoring, owned by the provider not you
The pressure: High on the day, provider-dependent
Behavioural evidence: Provider's debrief notes, if any
Getting your people trained: Not applicable: you never run it yourself
Cost model: Per event, forever
Best at: A one-off flagship event Larger single day events

BUILT AROUND YOU, NOT AROUND EVERYONE.

Generic kits are generic on purpose: the same activities have to work for every buyer.

UNPACK takes the opposite bet. Bespoke scenarios are written around your values, strategy and language, the artwork is designed to your brand and the electronic modules themselves can be RAL matched to your colours.

Your people aren't stepping into someone else's training exercise. They're inside a mission that could only belong to your organisation; and that's the difference between content people encounter and content people remember.

See what bespoke looks like

THE TRAINING IS IN THE PRICE.

With facilitated methods, the method lives in the facilitator, so the real price of entry is certification; a separate course, per person, typically running to several thousand pounds.

UNPACK works the other way round. Train-the-trainer is included in the kit price, your facilitators are trained by us, and the Facilitator Hub then enables efficient in-room facilitation.

WHERE THE OTHERS WIN.

LEGO Serious Play

Choose LEGO Serious Play when the goal is more focussed on discussion and not on heightened engagement. It can create good discussions between group members as well!

MTa-style activity kits

Choose an activity-based kit when budget is the binding constraint and a skilled facilitator can carry the experience. The equipment is proven and the review method is sound. What you give up is immersion and identity: no narrative, no responding hardware, digital capture or bespoking.

Hired providers

Choose a hired provider for a one-off flagship moment where production value is the point and repeatability isn't. If you'll run it once, hire it. If you'll run it more than a handful of times, the maths stops working and it's their content, not yours.

And UNPACK isn't the answer to everything. One kit won't run a 200-person conference on its own and frankly, it's not super cheap but it shows how teams work and delivers bespoke content in a way unlike anything else.

QUESTIONS, ANSWERED.

Is UNPACK an alternative to LEGO Serious Play?

For some jobs. LEGO Serious Play is a facilitated reflection method, strongest on abstract strategy and shared understanding. UNPACK is an owned immersive kit, strongest on team performance under pressure and delivering organisational and bespoke content. Companies that want pressure-tested behaviour and repeatable in-house delivery choose UNPACK; those that want facilitated reflection choose LSP.

How is UNPACK different from MTa kits?

Both are kits you own. The differences are immersion and customisation; UNPACK wraps the session in a narrative scenario with electronic modules that respond with lighting, audio and state tracking, captures timestamped observations through the Facilitator Hub Critically they can be built bespoke around your content, brand and story. Activity-based kits are generic by design and rely on the facilitator to create engagement and capture what happened.

Do I need a certified facilitator to run UNPACK?

No. Train-the-trainer is included in the kit price, so your own people deliver every session. The Facilitator Hub handles timing, clues and note-taking, which means your facilitator spends the session observing the team rather than running the event.

Can UNPACK be customised to our organisation?

Fully. Bespoke scenarios are written around your values, strategy and language, artwork carries your brand and the electronic modules can be RAL matched to your colours. Bespoke builds are produced in our Edinburgh workshop and can be delivered in multiple languages.