The far-reaching impact of play on learning has been celebrated through the centuries. Be it the work Schola Ludus by John Amos Comenius, Friedrich Schiller’s Spieltrieb, Johan Huizinga’s Homo ludens… or the Geoscience Games sessions during EGU General Assembly, which marked its 8th edition during EGU25.
The EGU Geoscience Games sessions were founded by Chris Skinner, Rolf Hut, and Sam Illingworth in 2018 as a forum to discuss best practices of using games to communicate geosciences, followed by a gaming gathering where the games could be shared, tested, and enjoyed by other participants. That setting proved successful and became a fixture in the EGU’s Education and Outreach and Networking program ever since.
This year included 20 presentations: ten posters followed by ten oral presentations, and showed diversity in both games and the research. One area that manifested this was the authors’ motivation from developing games for outreach to combating disinformation or student decline.
Laura E. Coulson presents SCIBORG, a science literacy game, during EGU25.
After the presentations, the Games Night followed. Authors explained and collected feedback for their games, attendees played, and everyone could enjoy a friendly social evening.
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- Rolf Hut introduces the Games for Geoscience evening.
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- This year’s edition had an estimated attendance of around 300 on-site participants.
EGU25 participants play the Dangers and Dwellers strategy board game during the Geoscience Games Night. The players interpret characters having different roles in the disaster risk management of a fictional island.
Veronique Boon and Jenn Hansen play QUARTETnary card game, winner of the 2021 EGU Public Engagement Grant.
Guillemette Legrand (right), an artist and designer, explains their game at EGU25.
As in previous years, the rooms filled quickly to their capacities, giving a testament to the content and its relevance.
For more information on Games for Geoscience and how to get involved, see https://games4geoscience.wordpress.com/.
