How the goodness game began
At 18, Bryan Driscoll ran away from home, taking a Greyhound bus from Pittsburgh to Orlando with just $200 and a duffel bag. He stayed in cheap motels for a few days, but when his money ran out, he found himself hungry and without a place to stay. He tried getting work through day labor jobs, but it wasn’t enough. Eventually, he decided to sleep at the Greyhound bus station. That night, a woman driving by noticed him walking alone and asked if he was okay. Moved by his situation, she brought him to her house, offered him food and a shower, and gave him a safe place to stay. Her unexpected kindness helped Bryan get back on his feet.
Years later, this moment inspired Bryan to create The goodness game—a way to encourage people to help others through small, intentional acts of kindness and inspire them to pass it on.
One online post, Chicago, & a helping heart
More than a decade later, Bryan Driscoll decided to test the power of simple kindness. He posted a message in the “Free” section of Craigslist in Chicago, offering to help anyone who needed it—with one condition: they had to promise to “pay it forward.” Inspired by the idea that small acts could ripple outward, he packed a bag, drove eight hours from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and began helping strangers.
Over the weekend, Bryan met people who needed help with all sorts of things—giving a man a ride to pick up a used car, buying a battery, disassembling a swing set, even donating clothes to a homeless shelter. He brought along a camcorder to document the experience (see the video on the left).
That trip wasn’t just an experiment—it became proof that ordinary people could start a chain of goodness. It was the unofficial start of The Goodness Game, and Bryan realized that while he set out to help others, the experience changed him most of all.
From Craigslist to National Media
These stories became the heart of the goodness game book
The goodness game helps readers turn everyday kindness into intentional action. Through real-life stories, thoughtful reflections, and simple prompts, the book teaches you how to notice opportunities to help others and gives you the tools to act—without overthinking or needing anything fancy. It shifts your mindset from waiting for the “right time” to doing something good right now, in small and meaningful ways.
By the end, you won’t just understand how kindness ripples—you’ll be part of it. The book equips readers to create their own wave of goodness, inspires them to pay it forward, and shows that ordinary people can spark extraordinary change—one act at a time.
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