Gaming is a Serious Matter!

The event is free of charge, and delivered in English. You are welcome to turn up at the door, but if you are on Facebook, please sign up for the event here

In the course of his talk, Daniel Schwarz will guide you through the basics of ‘serious gaming’, with topics including

– the concept of serious gaming as opposed to simply gaming
– the social and educational impact of serious games
– technical specifications and genres
– examples of successful projects (Energetika, Elektra)
– possibilities, plans, and projects in progress: a vision for simulation-based constructive learning (our so-called ‘SIMINI’ project)

While the first educational games attempted to translate schoolbooks into games, the second generation combined up-to-date scientific knowledge and real-world data. The first real breakthrough for Takomat was a game Energetika – a serious ‘strategic’ simulation of an energy supply system for Germany, which allowed players to model an energy plan for the next ten years, based on hard data from scientific research.

The vast majority of players managed to keep this fictional Germany alive without recourse to nuclear power plants. The resulting publicity led to debates in Bundestag about real-world energy planning – and no doubt a few sleepless nights for Angela Merkel!