Digital preservation and related games

This page contains (sortable and searchable) tables with (serious) board and card games rlated to digital preservation, and games related to information management and archiving.

Some games are available for downloading and printing. For other games you may have to contact the creator or publisher.

If you know of any other games that should be added to this page or if you have other feedback, please let me know: private email or professional email at National Archives of the Netherlands.

Digital preservation games

Name	Image	By	Description	Players	Duration	Type	Mechanism	License	Remark
Acronym Soup	Image: Digitalbevaring.dk	Jenn Roberts	Flash card game with digital preservation, software development and archival domain acronyms.	1-many	10m	Card game	Flashcard	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2023 in Champaign-Urbana.
Archive	Image: the game board	Émilie Fortin and Jean-François Ruest of the Université Laval	Try to obtain the resources to keep your collections indefinitely!	2-4	45m	Board game	Game of Life	CC BY-NC-SA 4.0	I playtested an early version of the game at iPRES 2019 in Amsterdam.
CURATE! The Digital Curator Game	Image: the game board	DigCurV: Katie McCadden, Susan Schreibmann, Jennifer Edmond, Kate Fernie and Carol Usher	Put yourselves into project scenarios to address digital curation and preservation challenges .	4-6	45m	Board game	Monolopy	CURATE! is copyright of DigCurV.	CURATE! inspired me to start developing Preservia.
DANS Data Game	Image: a game card	DANS-KNAW: Ricarda Braukmann, Heidi Berkhout, Ellen Leenarts, Cees H.J. Hof, E.M.S. Dijk and René van Horik	The game gives an impression of the research data landscape.	2 or more	15m	Card game	Quartet	CC-By-SA	Thank you Henk van den Heuvel for mentioning this game. The game was produced for the 15th anniversary of DANS in 2020.
Data Horror Escape Room	Image: Ben Peters, De hondsdagen	A collaborative team from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Leiden University and the Eindhoven University of Technology	Can you escape this online data horror escape room?	1-many	60m	Escape room	Online	CC-BY-SA-4.0
Digital Preservation for 5 Year Olds	Image: Digitalbevaring.dk	Jonathan Isip and Francesca Mackenzie	A set of definition cards explaining digital preservation as if to 5 year olds.	1-many	As long as you want	Card game	Flashcard	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2024 in Ghent.
Digital Preservation Jeopardy!	Image: DPC, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0	Ruby Martinez and Tricia Patterson	What is Digital Preservation Jeopardy?	1-many	15m	Jeopardy!	Jeopardy!	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2022 in Glasgow
Digital Preservation Storage Criteria Game	Image: DPC, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0	National Library of New Zealand	Players consider the relative importance of each criterion in the context of specific roles.	3-5	30-60m	Board game	Drafting / Deck building	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License	One of the four games present at the first iPRES games room in 2018. I had a chance to play it at iPRES 2022 in Glasgow.
Dungeons & Documents	Image: iPRES 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0	UCD students Lena Boese, Ellen Fanning and Feargal Keenan	Players undergo a journey to complete the quest of digital preservation.	2-4	45m	Board game	Eurogame / Snakes and Ladders	Unknown	DPC Award for Teaching and Communications 2024 finalist, introduced at iPRES 2024 in Ghent.
File Format Frenzy	Image: a game screen	Francesca Mackenzie	An interactive fiction game about file format identification.	1	10m	Interactive Fiction	Interactive Fiction	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2024 in Ghent.
File Format or Fake?	Image: a game screen	Karyn Williamson	Test your knowledge: is a file format an existing or fake file format?	1-many	10m	Quizz	Choose between two options.	Unknown	Played it at iPRES 2022 in Glasgow.
Mille Formats	Image: a game card	Émilie Fortin and Jean-François Ruest of the Université Laval	Try to get your format cards into a trusted digital repository before anyone else.	2-7	20m	Card game	Drafting / Deck building	CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Nibble in Cyberspace	Image: a game screen	Ross Spencer	Help Nibble fight entropy itself by following good #digipres practice	1	As long as you want	Video game	Shoot 'em up	Contact Ross Spencer
Obsolescence	Image: a game card	Colin Armstrong and Valene Jouvet of the British Library	Avoid obsolescence by not drawing an ‘Obsolescence’ card.	2-5	15-30m	Card game	Exploding kittens	Retheme of 'Exploding Kittens'. Use only in a non-commercial capacity.	Obsolescence is a lot of fun and has beautiful original graphics. One of the four games present at the first iPRES games room in 2018.
Open ❤ Science	Image: Digitalbevaring.dk	GHOST Collective, Games of Horror for Open Science Training	This game celebrates the essence of Open Science - fostering connections.	3-7	5m - 24h	Card game	Apples to Apples	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2024 in Ghent. Also playable online.
Open Science Against Humanity	Image: iPRES 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0	GHOST Collective, Games of Horror for Open Science Training	Pair the prompt cards and the black cards in the funniest, most provocative, or smartest way you can.	3-many	5m - 24h	Card game	Cards Against Humanity	Apache 2.0-license	Introduced at iPRES 2024 in Ghent. Also playable online.
Open Science Escape Room	Image: Ben Peters, De hondsdagen	Elisa Rodenburg, Lena Karvovskaya, Eirini Zormpa and Anna Volkova	Can you escape this online open science escape room?	1-many	30m	Escape room	Online	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License	Played it at iPRES 2022 in Glasgow.
Preservation Python	Image: a game screen	Jonathan Isip	You control a shrinking python, a metaphor for obsolescence and data loss.	1	As long as you can	Snake	Snake	Unknown ("The base code is adapted from Snake Game by Edureka.")	Created as part of the DPC Award-winning Bits and bots study group
Preservia	Image: Preservia.nl	Remco van Veenendaal	Roll dice, explore Preservia, recover heritage, restore policy. Win!	2-4	60-90m	Board game	Eurogame / Role-playing game	CC0	One of the four games present at the first iPRES games room in 2018. Available from this website.
Save my bits	Image: the game board	Eld Zierau	Learn more about bit preservation. Invest your money wisely and form alliances.	3-10	60-90m	Board game	Eurogame	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License	One of the four games present at the first iPRES games room in 2018.
The Digital Archivist	Image: Giulia Carla Rossi	Giulia Carla Rossi	A video game in which you move a real-world floppy (tracked by web cam) to control the game.	1	5m	Video game	Space invaders	Contact Giulia Carla Rossi	Played it at iPRES 2022 in Glasgow.
The Human Stack	Image: a game card	Estelle Pope and Jenny Mullins	Explore the roles and resources needed to meet digital preservation challenges.	2-6	45m (?)	Card game	Worldbuilding	Unknown	Introduced at iPRES 2023 in Champaign-Urbana.
Ticket to preserve	Image: the game board	Herman Uffen en Tamar Kinkel	Get a grip on sustainable digital heritage collection expenditure and learn how to map out your ambitions.	2-4	45m	Board game	Monolopy / Ticket to ride	Contact Netwerk Digitaal Erfgoed	I had the opportunity to contribute to the game's development and am the proud owner of an official copy.

Information managent, archiving and related games

Name	By	Description	Players	Duration	Type	Mechanism	License	Remark	Image
Play-A-LOD Animals	Marcia van Oploo, Constant Gordon, Erwin Folmer and Platform Linked Data Nederland.	The aim of the Play-a-LOD Animals is to become acquainted with the principles of Linked Data, by creating triples consisting of a Subject - Predicate - Object.	2-4	15-30m	Tile-based game	Dominoes	Buy the game at bol.com or contact Hans van Bragt.
Informatiespel	Hermes advies en management	The aim of the game is to get information management on the agenda, to raise awareness and lay the foundations of knowledge.	groups	60-90m	Serious game	Storytelling/Deck building	Unknown	Thank you André Plat for mentioning this game.
KVAN jubileumkwartet	KVAN	A quartet game created to celebrate the 125th anniversary of KVAN.	2-4	15m	Card game	Quartets	Unknown