Play a Serious Game about Studying with Mental Health Challenges: Beyond the Chalkboard

If you play the game on your own and would like to reflect on your experience, we suggest the following questions. You can answer them in writing and use your conclusions to modify your lecture design.

• How did you experience the game?
• What barriers did you perceive for Sam? Which of these barriers were particularly significant for Sam?
• What was or could be supportive for Sam?
• Where do you see opportunities to increase flexibility or proactively approach students who might be struggling?
• How can you, as a lecturer or staff member, contribute to creating an environment that is accessible and diversity-friendly?
• Are you familiar with the counseling services offered by your university? How can you signal openness and support to students in conversation, without taking on the role of a therapist yourself?
• If you have questions or need advice, please contact: barrierefrei@th-koeln.de

Beyond the Chalkboard is designed to launch the version appropriate to your browser. If you experience difficulties, you can try switching your browser or directly access the respective version at:

https://beyondthechalkboard.web.th-koeln.de/32/ (32-bit)

or

https://beyondthechalkboard.web.th-koeln.de/64 (64-bit)

If you encounter more difficulties, please contact: barrierefrei@th-koeln.de.

You are playing the main character Sam, going through daily university life. You can make your own decisions, which influence the course of the game.

The game is designed in a way that allows even inexperienced players to quickly find their way. Give it a try! If you still have questions, you can find detailed explanations below.

• The game uses point-and-click mechanics: The entire game is controlled with the mouse. To move Sam, click on the spot you want to go to. By clicking on objects and people, you can interact with them. A click on the magnifying glass at the top right corner gives you hints about what you can interact with.
• On the third in-game day, your options as a player change. This is intentional and reflects Sam’s emotional and mental state.
• You can close the game and continue playing at a later time. To do this, click “Continue” in the main menu. The game then starts at the beginning of the last scene you played.
• You can reload the scene via the menu, which will restart it from the beginning.
• Volume and music can be adjusted separately via the menu.
• You can play the game in German or English, and switch languages anytime via the menu.
• You can turn the accessibility mode on or off at any time via the menu. For more information, see the FAQ: Accessibility.
• A graphic of Sam’s brain appears at appropriate points in dialogues or can be accessed via the graphic of Sam’s head at the bottom right corner of the screen. Inside Sam’s brain, various thoughts appear as colorful shapes. Hovering the mouse over a thought will display its description. Part of Sam’s brain is always covered by fog, which grows or shrinks and darkens or lightens throughout the game. Thoughts inside the fog cannot be executed until you drag them out of the fog using the mouse. Thoughts in dark fog cannot be moved. Positive thoughts appear in a thought bubble next to the brain graphic; by clicking on these, the fog inside the brain shrinks.
• You can access Sam’s phone via the phone icon at the bottom right. Through the phone, you can chat with Luis, a friend living elsewhere, or use various apps. When a new message from Luis arrives, a red circle with a “1” appears at the top right corner of the phone icon.

To make the game accessible to as many as possible, we have made efforts to make the game playable for a variety of people. The game is designed as point-and-click, however, which entails some operational limitations. For example, using a mouse is necessary.

The accessibility mode can be selected in the starting menu and at any time during gameplay.

This mode affects the game as follows:

• The font “Dyslexia” is used for better readability.
• In regular mode, BtC’s graphics have a stop-motion effect with the background constantly moving. In accessible mode, the visuals are calm and static.
• The game mechanics in Sam’s brain are adjusted: thoughts have no weight and only need to be clicked instead of dragged with the mouse held down.

Generally, the design follows the Game Accessibility Guidelines (GAG). According to these, Beyond the Chalkboard is classified as “Basic”. Here you can find a list of the implemented accessibility standards in  German and English.