PASCHtopia

PASCHtopia - A virtual game for learners of German

A game can offer so much: It can encourage collaboration and communication in a team, inspire critical thinking, motivate learning, and teach content at the same time. These are the goals of the virtual game PASCHtopia, which was developed in 2020 by Goethe-Instituts in North America in collaboration with the game developers Playful Solutions in Vienna and successfully piloted with groups of students from a virtual PASCH camp. 

The game is based on the methodological-didactic principles for good foreign language teaching and is aimed at adolescent learners of German from level A2. The up to 30 players access the Miro-based game board via their browser free of charge and without logging in. Communication between the players takes place on Zoom or directly in the classroom. The game can be used in its entirety as part of a camp or a project week, or played in modular form in German lessons, in a German club or conversation group. The game was piloted with the help of 30 learners of German from high schools in the USA and Canada, aged 14 to 18. They spent a weekend at the end of November 2020 playing, puzzling, discussing, and creating ideas for their ideal society - mostly in German!

The scenario is as follows: The players went on a class trip and stranded on an uninhabited group of islands. In small teams they are scattered on different islands, which they now have to make their new home. The first step is to ensure survival: Each game round begins with a puzzle that the students can only solve together. The next step is to create an ideal society. In a total of six challenges, the teams are confronted with current issues of our time in the areas of education, culture, health, sustainability, diversity and media. They present the results to the other teams in a word, image, audio or video format. Then comes the evaluation. Guided by the question, "Which team has the best ideas for an ideal society and has presented them most convincingly?" the students evaluate each other. After no more than four game rounds the best team is chosen and honored in a festive ceremony attended by their German teachers.

You can find more information about the game and about different game settings and scenarios at your school in our Guide for Teachers of German.

Would you like to have a quick glance at our virtual game board? Click here!

If you have further questions please contact:
Goethe-Institut Chicago, Franziska Trepke
franziska.trepke@goethe.de