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Screenshot of the game SumMit. In the center of the screen is a green and orange character, its hair and dress are made of leaves. It stands on the plateau of a multilevel cylindrical mountain. At its left is a palm tree. At its right a ladder can be seen, on top of it a counter that says '0 of 2'.
Screenshot of SumMit that shows a labyrinth from the top view. The character is dragged through the labyrinth, drawing a line behind it. A 'help' button is in the top left and a 'retry' button in the bottom right of the screen.
Screenshot of the game SumMit. In the center of the screen is a green and orange character, its hair and dress are made of leaves. It stands on the plateau of a multilevel cylindrical mountain. At its left is another character, colored green and blue instead. At its right a hot-air balloon can be seen, on top of it a counter that says '0 of 4'.
Screenshot of the game SumMit. On the right side is a suitcase that contains six slots. On the left side 18 items in total are displayed as text labels. No more than six items can be dragged into the suitcase. Currently five of six slots in the suitcase are already occupied. A 'help' button is at the top left of the screen.
Screenshot of the game SumMit. In the center of the screen is a green and orange character, its hair and dress are made of leaves. It stands on the plateau of a multilevel cylindrical mountain. Around it are three other characters, colored green and blue instead. In the background there are some rocks on the plateau.
Screenshot of the game SumMit. In the background is a blue drawing on white background that resembles a sentence. In the foreground a text field where the solution to the puzzle can be entered.
Screenshot of the game SumMit. Eight green and orange characters, their hair and dresses made of leaves, stand on top of a cylindrical multilevel mountain and watch the sun rising over the mountain. At the bottom of the screen the title 'SumMit' is displayed.

SumMit

#2D
#3D
#Games
#Mobile
#Unity

Intercultural learning requires dealing with new, unfamiliar situations and questioning one's own perspectives and behaviors. In games, we often find it easier to leave our comfort zone and open up to unknown settings and interactions. "SumMit" is a serious game for collaborative learning settings to promote intercultural competencies.

In SumMit, several players climb a peak together by overcoming various challenges. At the beginning, they are at the foot of a mountain, separated from each other by obstacles. They can only overcome these by working together. Initially in teams of two and on the higher levels in increasingly larger groups – until finally all players join forces to reach the summit united.

Animated GIF of the game SumMit. In the center of the screen is a green and orange character, its hair and dress are made of leaves. It stands on the plateau of a multilevel cylindrical mountain. At its left is another character, colored green and blue instead. At its right a hot-air balloon can be seen, on top of it a counter that says '0 of 4'.
The players need to solve different challenges to reach higher levels.

The room in which the participants are located becomes part of the game. They have to approach one another, communicate with each other and grow together as a group in order to climb the mountain. Communication is a central part of the challenges. For example, players see different mazes and must find an identical path that leads to the destionation, agree together on which objects they want to take with them on a journey and compose a picture by placing their tablets next to each other in order to decipher a hidden message.

SumMit was developed with the Intercultural Learning Lab of the University of Göttingen under the direction of Alexandra Schreiber. In particular, the elaboration of the core theme and the content of the challenges were closely communicated with students of the University of Göttingen, tested and worked out in intercultural workshops.

Animated GIF of SumMit that shows a labyrinth from the top view. The character is being dragged through the labyrinth, drawing a line behind it. A 'help' button is in the top left and a 'retry' button in the bottom right of the screen.
The players must find an identical path while seeing different mazes.

The design and implementation of the game was done in a team of two as a project for the master's degree "Media and Game Design" at the Harz University of Applied Sciences. While Linda Hube was responsible for the art design, especially the graphics and animations, I worked out the game concept and did the technical implementation in Unity. Special requirements were the development for Android devices, the implementation of the aesthetics that combine 2D and 3D elements, as well as the development of the multiplayer, which allows up to eight participants to travel to the summit at the same time.

SumMit is used in the Intercultural Learning Lab at the University of Göttingen to encourage participants to leave their comfort zone and thus open up to new situations, experiences and encounters, as well as to solve challenges communicatively and train intercultural skills.

Further information on the project is available on the Intercultural Learning Lab website and on the blog page of the “Media and Game Design” master’s degree. In addition, Alexandra Schreiber and Dominik Wilhelm have published an article in the ZFHE (Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung / Journal for Higher Education Development) that looks at SumMit as an example of the implementation of serious games in intercultural contexts.

Development period:

October 2016 - September 2017

Technologies:

Unity | Adobe Photoshop | Adobe Illustrator | Clip Studio Paint

Other project members:

Linda Hube | Alexandra Schreiber | Master students of Intercultural German Studies, Georg-August-University Göttingen