Uhuru: the Wicked Game - an educational serious game

On 30 June, the Faculty of Humanities hosted an Education Fair, showcasing fifteen innovative education projects that were developed under their auspices. Their financial support and skilled guidance enabled faculty lecturers to enhance their traditional educational practices with novel pedagogical approaches. One of these projects was Uhuru: the Wicked Game, an educational serious game. 

Serious games
Serious games are a formidable learning medium in the technologically advanced educational environment and attract a lot of attention, which was also clear at the well-visited stand at the Education Fair. Uhuru: the Wicked Game was designed by Karin Nijenhuis and Madi Ditmars and developed with the support of student assistant Jochem Scheelings and four student game master volunteers. They were mentored by Angus Mol of Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities (LUCDH), and received much support from the Humanities Ecole team.

Sustainable Development Goals
The game plays out in a fictional African country called 'Uhuru' and starts in 2015, the year the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced. Played in teams of six players, each round the game advances with four years. After six rounds the year 2030 is reached and the game ends. It serves to illustrate that although sector-focussed developmental decisions are rewarding in the short term, joint cooperation leads to a winning situation for all stakeholders in the long run.

Tested with cards
The game concept was initially trailed and tested with cards in class-room settings and digitised thereafter on an online gaming platform. After the upcoming final pilot, the online and offline games will be made available for use by all Leiden University lecturers.

(Credit top photo: Pim Rusch - Pim Rusch Fotografie)