The i-Game project has created a collaborative platform that allows participants to reflect on key aspects of a game before beginning its technological development. These include identifying potential players and their needs, as well as considering different elements of game design and mechanics. The platform is designed as a tool for a wide audience – from experienced game designers to those developing game ideas for the very first time.

As one of the Estonian partners in the project, ERM Research Secretary Agnes Aljas first gave the nearly twenty participants an overview of the project’s background and objectives. In the workshop, participants introduced themselves and proposed game ideas to test on the platform. After initial brainstorming, the group was divided into three teams, each including at least one member who had previously tried the platform.

• - A member of the Estonian Virtual and Augmented Reality Association collaborated with Tartu teachers to develop a game introducing primary school children to the traditional rehetuba (threshing room).
  

• A group of folklorists and game design students tackled the challenge of combining Estonian mythological creatures (such as the luupainaja and külmking) with everyday Soviet-era settings, presented in a humorously satirical style reminiscent of Andrus Kivirähk.

• A creative team from various museums, joined by a young designer, revisited the journey of striped skirt (triibuseelik) colors into 18th–19th century Estonia.

The i-Game project team received valuable feedback for improving the platform. On the one hand, the platform’s step-by-step structure supported systematic development of game ideas; on the other hand, some participants found it restrictive. While the proposed categories sparked creativity, they also limited cross-category approaches. Nevertheless, participants from Tartu, Mulgimaa, and Tallinn – many of whom were engaging in game creation for the first time – expressed satisfaction with the experience.

The workshop was free of charge. The i-Game project is funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe research and innovation program. Project coordinators are the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) and the Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA), with partners including Raising the Floor, Cookie Box Group Gamification & Serious Game, Nurogames GmbH, KU Leuven, Unisystems Luxembourg, Open Impact, Museospace, Prato Textile Museum, and the Estonian National Museum.

ERM is responsible for research in museums and the cultural sector, as well as pilot testing of the platform.

More information: https://www.digitalheritage.ee/teadusprojektid/i-game