The Fishing Game

The Fishing Game addresses the handling of scarce resources, economic behaviour and coordination processes with others, and deals with topics such as dealing with common goods, ethics and morals, handling scarce resources, the common goods vs. personal profit and much more. It thus joins a series of simulation games on the topic of overfishing (Fishbanks by Dennis Meadows, Fish Pond by iconomix/UCS Markus Ulrich), which focus on the topic of common goods with a similar game mechanism. The target user group comprises individuals aged 12 and over from all sectors, professions and social classes. The game deals with a severe problem of sustainability and can therefore be described as a serious game. Four companies are located at a pond from which they can take fish. Initially, they only have one fishing rod at their disposal. Over the course of the rounds, the revenue generated can be used to buy more boats with or without fishing conditions. Market and price developments as well as fish stocks must always be considered. The game was developed by Molleindustria for the Allied Media Conference 2013 and is freely available.

UBONGO Flow Game

The UBONGO Flow Game is based on the classic UBONGO Game, in which players quickly place geometric shapes on a board in a similar way to Tangrams. The first player to fit the correct pieces into the given space on the board wins. The UBONGO Flow Game is an analogue serious game with a learning focus that uses materials from the original game. The only adopted element is the mechanism of placing pieces on a mould. However, the participants work together in teams with distributed roles and have an extended task (work packages) to be completed. The game simulates the effects of process changes on results. Project work with several workstations is developed further over three rounds by gradually optimising processes to create a more agile and open system. It is for high school students aged 14 and over, university students and a corporate training context. The design is characterised by a clear definition of roles, with processes of continuous optimisation in each round. Participants recognise the significance of effective collaboration on outcomes. It is based on the LEGO® Flow Game, developed by Karl Scotland and Sallyann Freudenberg in 2014, refined by Jan Fischbach in 2016.

Transaction

“Transaction” is a web- and browser-based business simulation whose development began in 2014. It was designed to give students in bachelor’s programs in economics and industrial engineering the opportunity to actively participate as part of a value chain throughout the entire semester. Participants act as executives of a virtual company and improve their performance by applying the knowledge they have acquired during their studies in a practical setting. All actions within the simulation are automatically recorded and evaluated, providing students with continuous, personalized feedback on their learning progress.

Swiss Island®

Swiss Island® is a coach-supported, stochastic, and turn-based business game that simulates project implementation under uncertain conditions. Its thematic focus lies on project management and agile organizations, with the main objective of training participants to analyze, communicate, and make decisions situationally. Target groups are individuals in project management and Scrum-related roles, including project managers, team leads, consultants, and students with basic knowledge and first project experience. Unlike deterministic simulations, Swiss Island® introduces unpredictable situations that mirror real-world dynamics and apply the principles of Experiential Learning (Kolb, 1984). Participants assume roles such as sponsor, project manager, steering committee, or subcontractor and must collaborate to complete a project within the given framework. The game is available both physically, on a dedicated board, and digitally, in predictive (waterfall), hybrid, and agile versions. Swiss Island® was developed in 2017 by Rüdiger Geist and has since been used internationally in higher education and professional training.

carlowitz-simulation-game

Carlowitz Simulation Game – Growing with Trees The objective of the game is to manage wood resources skillfully and with a forward-looking approach—that is, to cultivate trees in a way that increases their value, to broker and trade wood in a tailored manner, and to use wood in ways that generate benefits. It is based on Carlowitz’s sustainability model and simulates economic decisions regarding the cultivation, trade, and use of wood. Learning objectives include understanding selected mechanisms of sustainable forestry and the timber industry, as well as acting independently from the perspectives of both forest managers and customers. In its design, market- and competition-based as well as transformative approaches to strong sustainability are guided through scenarios and events. Action-oriented and participant-focused principles lead to a combined didactic approach featuring tactile-analog and digital elements; this allows for shifting perspectives to foster self-awareness. A debriefing session for reflective critique rounds out the game phases. The carlowitz simulation game is designed to impart knowledge, foster practical skills, and bring about sustainable behavioral changes in real life. It combines turn-based game mechanics with transformative learning objectives, utilizes methodological approaches from simulation game pedagogy, and relies on real-life problems to enable direct transfer of learning.

Klimaxo

Klimaxo is a science-based strategy game that makes complex climate knowledge accessible through innovative game mechanics. As a board game, the rules can be learned in ten minutes by watching the online tutorial video. The central goal of Klimaxo is to facilitate a constructive dialogue about climate protection and to impart practical knowledge for taking action. The focus is on assessing the scale of CO2 emissions generated by individuals or society. The game translates complex climate relationships into easy-to-remember rules of thumb, thereby reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed. Strategy, knowledge, and luck create dynamic rounds of play that work across different levels of knowledge.

Sustainability Management Simulation: Net Zero

The Sustainability Management Simulation: Net Zero is designed for students at all levels to experience the challenges and opportunities related to reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions in line with objectives of the Paris Agreement, while at the same time managing business performance. In the simulation, participants play the role of a hotel manager who needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a hotel by 50 per cent over a 7-year period. Each year students choose up to three initiatives that can help to reduce the hotel’s emissions and determine the level of spending on staff training and guest awareness communication. At the end of 7 years, students need to have reduced the hotel’s emissions by 50 per cent and cumulative emissions should not have exceeded the hotel’s total greenhouse gas emissions budget for the game. At the same time, the emission reduction efforts should not go at the expense of profitability. Net Zero has been developed by Tim Rogmans of Sim Institute and published by Harvard Business Publishing in March 2022. The simulation was updated during 2024. A Spanish language version was published in 2023 and AI generated feedback was incorporated in 2025.

Exit game “Measurement lab”

The exit game ‘Measurement Lab’ is a virtual escape room developed by Dr Juliane Schuldt and Anna Sorgatz in 2024 as part of the research project “Multimediale Lehr-Lern-Loop-Methode in der Fertigungsmesstechnik (FMT E-Tutor)”. The aim of this virtual measuring room is to solve various measuring tasks with the corresponding selection of measuring devices. Various Geometrical Product Specification and Verification standards are applied. The target group of the game are mechanical engineering students who attend the lecture series of the Professorship of Production Measurement Technology. A scenario has been developed for the game in which the players have to fulfil various measurement tasks. The aim is to transfer the knowledge learnt in the lecture in a new application. The knowledge of the current content and requirements in industrial practice has been incorporated in the story. Students can play the game regardless of time and place. All they need is a computer or other mobile devices and a working internet connection.

Sign: A Game About Being Understood

Sign is a collaborative live-action role-playing game (LARP) developed by computational linguist Kathryn Hymes and Hakan Seyalioğlu, mathematician and cryptologist, the game designers and founders of Thorny Games. The goal of Sign is for players to take on the roles of deaf children in a classroom and develop ways to communicate with each other and the “teacher”/facilitator. The game was released in 2017 and was inspired by the real-world origins of Nicaraguan Sign Language (Homepage). When deaf children were brought together as part of a nationwide literacy effort starting in 1979, they developed their own sign language. The children needed to find a way to communicate with each other, signing in ways that weren’t allowed within their classrooms, and sharing signs on the playground and bus rides to and from school (Nicaraguan Sign Language Projects). In this game, players role-play specific deaf child personas and devise their own ways to communicate with other players during “recess” and during “class”. Though the gameplay is highly simplified and not meant to reflect the genuine experiences of those in the Deaf community, it aims to give players a unique experience that challenges them to communicate in a silent environment, working together to build something new and unique.

Depression Quest

"Depression Quest" is an interactive educational game developed by Zoё Quinn, Patrick Lindsey and Isaac Schankler in 2013, where you play as someone living with depression. A person takes on the role of someone struggling with depression and lives through a series of everyday life events while trying to manage illness, relationships with people and a job. The gameplay is text-based: a player is presented with short to medium text describing the situation and several answer choices. Each of them has their own effect on the character's mental health and the story's progression. Some of the options are crossed out, indicating the restrictions imposed by depression. There are several ideas behind the game. Firstly, it aims to show others, who are suffering with depression, that they are not alone. However, the main goal of the game is to spread awareness and educate people about the depths of what depression can do by making the realities of depression accessible to a wider audience.

Kahoot

Kahoot! is an online game-based learning platform designed to enhance engagement and motivation in educational settings. The primary focus is education and knowledge reinforcement across diverse subjects. The main objective is to answer quiz questions accurately and as quickly as possible to outperform other players. Kahoot! has wide appeal, it works well for students and educators in higher education, schools, and training environments. It leverages game design principles, such as timed quizzes, points, and leaderboards, to create an engaging and educational experience. Gameplay is simple: educators create trivia quizzes, or choose from pre-made quizzes, and these are then delivered in a live, interactive session. Developed in 2012 by a team led by Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker, and Morten Versvik, Kahoot! has grown into one of the most widely used tools in gamified education.

Survival of the Best Fit

Survival of the Best Fit is an educational digital game about hiring biases in artificial intelligence. It was developed by an international group of former computer science students and published in 2019. The game aims to sensitize people to how AI mechanisms work and how easily incautious application can lead to misuse with drastic consequences. For example, as shown in the game, biased decision-making in hiring processes can result in discrimination of job candidates. By making hiring decisions, players provide data that is later used to train a hiring AI in the game. After some time, problems arise that require the player to familiarize themselves with the way machine learning works in order to understand the issues and mistakes that were made. The game teaches responsible use of artificial intelligence in a very simple and comprehensible way. The game is therefore well suited as a starting point for digital literacy education for students in schools and universities.

Startup Essentials

The Startup Essentials simulation models the founding and management of a company using the example of a surfboard manufacturer. The thematic focus lies on the essential steps of starting a business—from ideation to business model development and financial and strategic planning. The goal is to convey economic relationships in a practical manner and promote entrepreneurial thinking. The main target group includes students in business-related programs, founders, and professionals who wish to train their business decision-making skills. As a serious game, Startup Essentials combines playful elements with a realistic learning approach, supporting interactive and application-oriented knowledge transfer. The game is based on a step-by-step decision-making process: Participants analyse market conditions, make financing decisions, and develop management strategies. The simulation was released in 2017 by TOPSIM GmbH and has been continuously developed since then.

Connect Rollout

The digital simulation game “Connect Rollout” was developed in 2022/23 at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences to foster skills in international project management. Based on a systems thinking approach, the game simulates the complex challenges of an international rollout project. The goal is to provide students and professionals with practical experience that can be applied in real-world projects. By utilizing the ICB4 competency standards (IPMA, 2015) and simulating dynamic project processes, “Connect Rollout” offers an innovative method for knowledge transfer. The game enables participants to make strategic decisions in a controlled environment and analyze the consequences of their actions. This not only fosters problem-solving skills but also promotes collaboration and diversity of perspectives within a team.

The Cascades Game

“The Cascades Game” is an interactive and educational social-simulation game for university settings. It aims to foster system thinking by introducing the concept of cascading climate impacts and policy responses to address and tackle them. The game was developed as part of the Project CASCADES (Cascading Climate risks: Towards adaptive and resilient European Societies) in 2023 and builds upon their empirical research and developed policy models (Strategic Simulations And Serious Game, 2024). Simulating a global food crisis in 2028, players take on the roles of different global stakeholders and become members of the “European Taskforce on global food supply”. Their goal is to develop recommendations on how to set regulations to counteract the global crisis. Therefore, they not only have to discuss, negotiate and agree on solutions but must also react to the latest political, economic and societal changes.

Per Anhalter durch das Immunsystem

Per Anhalter durch das Immunsystem is a digital educational game designed to support the teaching and learning of immunological processes for students of life sciences. It was published in 2024 by Christian Zimmermann, a scientist and lecturer in nutritional sciences at Justus Liebig University Giessen. The game was developed in collaboration with students and HessenHub, the Network for Digital University Teaching in Hesse, in Giessen. The goal of the game is to teach students how specific processes in the immune system work. It is designed as a point-and-click adventure in a simplified cartoon style, where players interact with immune cells and complete various tasks. In the game, players must prepare for an attack by pathogens and respond by producing specific antibodies. Through this process, they gain insights into how immune cells interact and how immunological reactions take place. Throughout the game, the players are required to solve puzzles and reflect on the content they have learned.

Ab durchs QM

The hands-on simulation game “Ab durchs QM” was developed in 2019 at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences to offer students an innovative way to prepare for exams in the field of quality management. It has undergone several updates, most recently in 2024. The goal is to make learning more interactive, motivating, and effective. The focus is on applying theoretical content in real-world scenarios, with peer learning and immediate feedback playing central roles. The game is primarily aimed at undergraduate business students who wish to refresh or deepen their knowledge of quality management. The interactive design and group discussions create a motivating learning atmosphere that prepares students for real-world challenges.

Remember. The Children of Bullenhuser Damm

The digital remembrance game “Remember. The Children of Bullenhuser Damm” is based on the history of the Bullenhuser Damm Memorial in Hamburg, which commemorates 20 Jewish children and 28 adults murdered by the SS in 1945. Before their murder, the children were subjected to pseudo-medical experiments at the Neuengamme concentration camp. The game introduces young people to the history of the memorial, focusing not on the crime but on remembrance culture and the question, “How is this history relevant to me today?” Players experience different perspectives on remembrance through the eyes of five students from the school Bullenhuser Damm in the late 1970s. They uncover traces that reveal the background to this unimaginable crime. The game complements visits to the memorial, encourages reflection, and promotes active participation in remembrance culture.

Celeste

Celeste is a critically acclaimed platformer that explores themes of mental health, perseverance, and self-discovery. Players take on the role of Madeline, a young woman climbing a mountain while confronting both external obstacles and internal struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. The game appeals to a wide audience, especially those interested in mental health narratives, challenging gameplay, and emotional storytelling. As a serious game, Celeste raises awareness of mental health issues through its narrative and mechanics, which mirror real-world challenges like anxiety and self-acceptance. By combining these themes with precise platforming, the game encourages reflection on personal growth and resilience. The gameplay is simple yet demanding: players navigate levels filled with hazards using intuitive controls and mechanics such as mid-air dashing and wall climbing. Success requires persistence, skill, and learning from failure. Celeste was developed by Maddy Thorson and the team at Extremely OK Games and released in January 2018.

Signs of the Sojourner

"Signs of the Sojourner" is a narrative-driven card game developed by Echo Dog Games and released in 2020. The game revolves around the themes of communication and relationships. The player assumes the role of a character who takes over their mother's shop after her death and embarks on journeys to collect new goods. Along the way, the player encounters various characters with whom they interact by playing cards. The deck of cards represents the character's experiences and relationships and evolves over the course of the game. The story of "Signs of the Sojourner" is very relatable through the protagonist's relationship with their mother and a close friend. These emotional connections give the narrative a vivid and profound layer, motivating the player to collect goods from the game world for the shop. This personal journey and its associated challenges make the story not only captivating but also meaningful. Additionally, the game offers multiple endings depending on the decisions you make, which adds to its replayability and depth. Each choice influences the direction of the story and the relationships, leading to a variety of possible conclusions. A particularly emotional moment in the game was when the initial attempts to gather enough goods to keep the shop running failed. These moments of disappointment and frustration, when the protagonist was forced to give up, deepened the emotional aspect of the story. They illustrate the real-life challenges one can face, making the successes in the game all the more meaningful.