It pours awards for Fraunhofer IGD. The learning game for illiterates “Winterfest” has meanwhile won its fourth award. At CeBIT 2011, Fraunhofer IGD and its partners were awarded the “Serious Games Award 2011” in gold.

(Rostock/Hannover/Darmstadt) After a fall, the shy unemployed Alex regains consciousness in a foreign, medieval world. The gatekeeper does not want to let him enter the protecting city and, to make matters worse, a rat starts talking to him. With its help, Alex recognizes that he is a sought-after man with his reading, writing and calculating skills. He works up the courage and strikes out to find his way back into his world.

So far the background story of the PC adventure game “Winterfest”. The computer learning game supports functional illiterates in improving their reading, writing and calculating skills. The game, which is used at many adult education centers, now won the “Serious Games Award 2011” at CeBIT in Hanover. Winterfest had an “intelligent game idea, which shows lots of sensitivity and has an absolutely motivating effect”, read the jury’s statement.

In addition to the LARA Education Award 2010, the European E-learning Award “eureleA 2011” and an award as “Selected Place” in the competition “365 Places in the land of Ideas 2011”, the learning game is now awarded its fourth prize. Moreover, it is nominated for the German Computer Game Award 2011. The “Serious Games Award 2011” was presented at CeBIT on March 4, 2011. The project team additionally received 10,000 euros in prize money from Hans-Joachim Otto, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Department for Economics and Technology.

“Winterfest” was created in the scope of the interdisciplinary project “Alphabit” funded by the German Federal Department for Education and Research (BMBF). Under the coordination of Fraunhofer IGD, the German Association for Adult Education Centers, the German Institute for Adult Education, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Association for Adult Education Centers and Daedalic Entertainment were involved in the design of the game.