Table 1
Outline of newsgames produced during the two pilot courses
| Name (in Finnish) | Topic | Key mechanics | Year | Number of players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbrewery (Pienpanimo) | Establishing and running a microbrewery in Finland | Resource management, “simulation”? | 2015 | 2,050 (until August 2016) |
| The Operation Center (Tilannekeskus) | Decision-making in the police operation center | Real time puzzle, resource management, “simulation”? | 2015 | 5,689 (until August 2016) |
| Save Refugees from Syria (Pelasta Syyrian pako- laiset) | Distributing the asylum seekers from Syria to European countries | Management | 2015 | 490 (until August 2016) |
| Before, everything was… (Ennen oli kaikki…) | Living through the life of a person born in Finland in 1917 | Story-focused, interactive story, multiple-choice, random elements, “life simulator” | 2017 | |
| Doctor shortage (Lääkäripula) | Working for 1 week as a general paediatrician | Story, little resource management, multiple choice, random elements | 2017 | |
| Cybercrime (Kyberrikollisuus) | Choosing and execu- ting cyber-attacks | “Simulation” | 2017 |
Figure 1
Title screen and user interface of The Operation Center
Comments: The Finnish words on the title screen (left image) mean ‘play’ (pelaa) and ‘instructions’ (ohjeet). The user interface (right image) was modelled on systems used in Finnish operation centers.
Figure 2
Title screen of Before, everything was …
Comments: The left photograph was obtained from the archive of the Helsinki City Museum (photographer unknown).1 The right photograph was obtained from the Finnish Heritage Agency (photographer: Heinrich Iffland).2 Both photographs were downloaded from www.finna.fi a site that provides free access to material from Finnish museums, libraries and archives.