Teaching with the VAL-YOU Game
Introduction
Why Learn with Games?
Digital games are an important part of contemporary culture and many young people’s everyday lives. In the classroom, they can offer more than familiarity and entertainment.
Game-based learning
Game-based learning means using games in the classroom while connecting them to specific learning objectives. Unlike gamification, the game itself becomes the learning environment.
Serious games
Serious games are designed for purposes beyond entertainment. They allow learners to engage with social, political or ethical questions in a simulated environment.
The VAL-YOU approach
VAL-YOU connects European values with concrete policy choices, limited resources, competing interests and consequences for society.
When learners use a game in class, they do more than receive information. They understand rules, evaluate options, make decisions, develop strategies and react to the consequences of their actions. This can create an interactive and problem-oriented learning environment in which learners explore complex situations, try different approaches and learn from failure.
Simply using a digital game does not automatically make a lesson effective or motivating. What matters is how well the game, the learning objectives and the classroom activities fit together.
Political and ethical questions often have no single universally accepted answer. Serious games allow learners to make decisions and observe how these decisions affect a simulated world. This makes them particularly useful for citizenship and values education.
The VAL-YOU Game does not replace teaching about European values. It provides a shared experience that can become the starting point for analysis, discussion and reflection.
Methods
Choose the Appropriate Method
You do not need a complete set of devices or extensive gaming experience. Choose a method according to your available time, equipment, learning objectives and group.
| Method | Devices | Participation | Particularly suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Play | One per learner | Direct | Becoming familiar with the game and its mechanics |
| Individual Play | One per learner | Direct | Comparing individual decisions and strategies |
| Think-Aloud Play | One device | Active observation | Examining reasoning, negotiation and decision-making |
| Projected Gameplay | One device and projector | Whole class | Creating a shared experience and making joint decisions |
| Let’s Play | Video playback only | Observation | Analysing selected situations efficiently |
Direct method 1Free Play
Give learners time to explore the game without a detailed assignment. In the VAL-YOU Game, they can complete the tutorial, examine the cards and resources, test the controls and become familiar with the basic rules.
Free play is especially useful as an introductory phase. It reduces technical uncertainty and allows learners to form their own first impressions before you introduce more focused tasks. Afterwards, briefly discuss what they noticed, which aspects they found difficult and how they understood the objective of the game.
Direct method 2Individual Play
Each learner plays on their own computer. This allows everyone to make independent decisions, progress at their own pace and develop an individual strategy. A worksheet or decision log can guide the process.
Learners might record important policy choices, changes in resources and stability, problems they encounter and the reasons behind their decisions. Afterwards, compare approaches and outcomes in pairs, small groups or as a class.
This method provides the most direct experience of individual agency. It is particularly suitable when the objective is to compare different interpretations of a value or different strategies for maintaining a stable system. Account for differences in playing speed and provide an additional reflection task for learners who finish early.
Direct method 3Think-Aloud Play
One or two learners play while explaining their thoughts and decisions aloud. They describe what they notice, which options they are considering, why they select a particular policy and what consequences they expect. When two learners play together, they can discuss and negotiate their decisions.
Give the remaining learners observation tasks. Different groups can focus on:
- the arguments used by the players;
- the relationship between policies and European values;
- the management of resources and stability;
- alternative courses of action;
- intended and unintended consequences.
Pause at key moments and invite observers to ask questions or suggest alternatives. Give the players enough time to think and avoid presenting the game as a search for one supposedly correct solution.
Direct method 4Projected Gameplay
One person plays while the game is projected for the whole class. You can control the game yourself or ask a learner to play. The class observes the scenario using clearly defined tasks.
Pause at selected decision points and discuss the available options. The decision can be made by the player, by a class vote or following a short discussion. Observation groups can focus on values, stakeholder interests, resources, stability or policy consequences.
This method requires only one computer and creates a shared experience. Keep learners actively involved through observation tasks, predictions, voting and short discussions.
Indirect methodWatching a Let’s Play
A Let’s Play is a video recording of someone playing and usually commenting on a game. Show a complete sequence or select shorter excerpts related to a particular value, decision or conflict.
Before watching, give learners specific observation questions. They might examine which options are available, how the player justifies a decision, what consequences follow or whether they would have acted differently. Pause at important decision points to predict outcomes or discuss alternatives.
This approach is suitable when devices or internet access are limited or only a short amount of lesson time is available. Learners observe someone else’s decisions, however, rather than experiencing their own agency within the game.
The Game at a Glance
Game-Based Learning with VAL-YOU
VAL-YOU is a single-player serious game in which six European values become tangible through political questions, policy decisions and consequences for society.
Make policy choices
Choose and implement policy cards connected to European values and political questions.
Manage the system
Generate and use resources, research new ideas and keep the system stable.
Experience consequences
Explore tensions, trade-offs, competing interests and intended or unintended effects.
Six scenarios, six values
Across six scenarios, players engage with Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Solidarity, Pluralism and Justice. Each scenario begins with a concrete political question connected to one of these values.
The Freedom scenario, for example, asks players to decide whether same-sex marriage should be legalised. As the scenario develops, they encounter further political choices, social challenges and competing interests. Abstract values therefore become connected to tangible decisions and their possible consequences.
Resources, stability and success
The game combines card-based gameplay with resource management. Players implement policy cards to generate resources, address emerging problems and research new ideas and policies.
Each scenario has different challenges and victory conditions. Players must keep the system stable while researching and implementing the required victory card. If stability falls to 0% or three game-over cards are collected, the scenario is lost.
Before You Start
Preparing the Game
What you will need
- One laptop or desktop computer for each player
- A stable internet connection
- An up-to-date web browser
- Approximately 30 minutes for the tutorial and one scenario
- The accompanying worksheet or another decision log
- A mouse is recommended
Scan to play
Ready-to-Use Activity
Playing and Reflecting on the VAL-YOU Game
This classroom activity combines individual gameplay with a decision log, individual reflection, discussion in pairs and a concluding classroom discussion.
VAL-YOUs in Play: Exploring European Values
A ready-to-use classroom activity
Learning goals
- Explore one European value through concrete political decisions and their consequences in the game.
- Distinguish between decisions based on personal or political convictions and decisions influenced by resources, stability or other game mechanics.
- Compare different decisions and justify one’s own position in discussion.
- Critically reflect on the possibilities, assumptions and limitations of a digital game as a model of political and social reality.
Activity sequence
Introduce the activity
Introduce VAL-YOU as a serious game about European values. Explain that all learners will complete the tutorial and then play the same scenario on Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Solidarity, Pluralism or Justice. Using the same scenario makes it possible to compare decisions, strategies and interpretations afterwards.
Introduce the accompanying worksheet. During the scenario, learners should document three decisions that they found particularly difficult. These may include choosing a policy or idea card, deciding which cards to place in the available slots or replacing an existing card.
Avoid defining the selected value in too much detail before playing. The game should allow learners to develop initial ideas, encounter tensions and form their own interpretations.
Complete the tutorial
Allow learners to complete the tutorial independently. This gives them an opportunity to become familiar with the cards, resources, stability system and victory conditions. Once they have completed the tutorial, they begin the selected scenario individually.
Play the scenario and document decisions
While playing, learners document three decisions that they found particularly difficult. For each decision, they record:
- a brief description of the decision;
- why the decision was difficult;
- their reasons for choosing a particular option, such as resources or personal political opinion;
- the consequences of the decision within the game.
Keywords are sufficient. The purpose is to make visible the relationship between personal political opinions and the strategic requirements of the game.
Reflect individually
After completing the scenario, learners answer selected questions from the worksheet individually. If lesson time is limited, choose individual questions from each reflection section rather than using every question.
Compare results in pairs
Once both members of a pair have completed the scenario and the individual reflection, allow approximately five minutes to compare their results, decisions and experiences.
Discuss as a class
Conclude with a joint reflection. Rather than repeating every decision, use the different experiences to discuss the relationship between political convictions, strategic considerations and game mechanics.
- What had the strongest influence on your decisions: personal political convictions or strategic considerations?
- When did you have to compromise between what you believed and what appeared necessary to succeed?
- What assumptions, limitations or simplifications did you notice?
- What can we genuinely learn from the game, and what can it not teach us?
Emphasise that winning does not prove that a player made politically or ethically “correct” decisions.
Worksheet M1
VAL-YOUs in Play
The worksheet helps learners document difficult decisions and move from gameplay to individual, pair and whole-class reflection.
Difficult choices
Learners describe three decisions, why they were difficult, what influenced their choices and which consequences followed.
Choices and compromises
Learners distinguish between personal convictions and decisions made mainly for resources or strategic advantages.
Beyond the game
Learners connect game situations to political or social life and critically examine what the simulation includes or leaves out.
Your Choices and Compromises
- Which of your decisions best reflected what you personally believe?
- Did you choose an option mainly because of the resources or strategic advantages it provided?
Beyond the Game
- Where do you see similar tensions or compromises in political or social life?
Game Reflection
- What kinds of decisions does the game reward or discourage?
- Which aspects of real political decision-making are simplified or missing?
- Does winning necessarily mean making politically or ethically “right” decisions?
What Can We Learn from the Game?
- What did the game help you understand about the selected value?
- Did any decision or consequence surprise you?
- Did the game change or challenge your understanding of the value?
Bonus Questions
- Identify one decision you would make differently in a second playthrough. Explain why.
- Design an additional policy card. What would it represent, which resources would it provide or require, and what consequences could it have?
Download the complete worksheet
Use the printable PDF in class or download the editable version to adapt the questions to your lesson.
Research
Further Reading
Show references on game-based learning and civic education
- Clark, D. B., Tanner-Smith, E. E., & Killingsworth, S. S. (2016). Digital games, design, and learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 86(1), 79–122. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582065
- Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., & Evans, C. (2009). The Civic Potential of Video Games. MIT Press. Open-access publication
- Plass, J. L., Homer, B. D., & Kinzer, C. K. (2015). Foundations of game-based learning. Educational Psychologist, 50(4), 258–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2015.1122533
- Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & van der Spek, E. D. (2013). A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031311