Computer and video games are an important part of today’s entertainment landscape. Can we use these games to motivate and educate? That was the question explored by the European project 80Days (www.eightydays.eu), a leading-edge research effort. The project ran from 2008 to 2010, focusing on developing the psycho-pedagogical and technological foundations for successful digital educational games – where success is measured by both educational and financial effectiveness. This book is the result of that research.

Title of the book: "An Alien's Guide to Multi-Adaptive Educational Computer Games", pubished 2012 in Informing Press Science, Santa Rosa, California.

Read it on GoogleBooks

Düsseldorf, 07.12.2011

Among the happy winners: PLANET-E., a real time strategy video game concept about the world’s struggle for energy from takomat. PLANET-E. will receive €40,000 ($53,300) for “connectional development”.

TAKOMAT’s CEO Guido Doublet: “Were are happy and will turn the grant into a competitive game design to attract investors and publishers.”
TAKOMAT’s CEO and creative director Daniel Schwarz adds: “We  do believe in video games that reflect reality, because the players’ action will reflect reality in the game and in real life. And we do believe in gamers that first save a virtual world before saving our real world.”

Cologne and Munich, Good policy and good games – all going together well.
The Bavarian State Government is connecting to the people of Bavaria by using an online video game for communication of the government’s core policy principles. To make policy tangible and playable, the Bavarian State Government assigns TAKOMAT to develop the online video game for 1st half 2012.

TAKOMAT is happy to announce the development start of MTA-2012, a new generation serious-game for recruiting Medical Technicians (MTA) for todays gaming young generation.

The work of a Medical Technicians (MTA) is a pre-condition for a working health system. From risk-detection in medical prevention to technical diagnosis, MTAs are irreplaceable modules. We urgently need more MTAs! So, recruiting among youngsters is the challenge! But how can teenagers decide whether they are talented and motivated for these responsible and challenging appeal? By MTA-2012, an online-game that is a virtual traineeship for tomorrows MTA. This idea of exploiting video games for recruiting among the the generation video games, persuaded the German Association of Medical Technical Assistants(DVTA) to commission TAKOMAT for the development of MTA-2012 for launch in mid 2012.

Daniel Schwarz (Managing takomat) held on 30.9.2011 for the series of events "mediaeducation of the future (Bimz)" of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT, a workshop on takomat's award-winning design of good games. This two day event (September 29 to 30) in Erfurt on IMDT the "Teaching and Learning with digital games" is. In a workshop withteachers the power play was presented for instruction. In a lecture presented results fromtakomat Daniel Schwarz's research and development and the design and production process oftakomat's learning games before.

Further reading:
www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/de/veranstaltungen/workshop_bimz.html