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Open Research Games Portal

Welcome to the Open Research Games Portal - your gateway to learning open science through play! Our curated collection features 39 educational games that make complex research concepts accessible and engaging.

Discover & Play

🎮 Interactive Learning: Games that teach research methods, statistical thinking, and open science practices through hands-on experience.

🎯 For Everyone: From high school students to seasoned researchers, find games tailored to your learning level.

🔬 Evidence-Based: Each game is designed with pedagogical principles and learning objectives in mind.

How to Use This Portal

  • Browse: Explore all games using the cards below
  • Filter: Use the FORRT cluster buttons to find games by topic
  • Search: Enter keywords to find specific games by title, gameplay, topics, or FORRT clusters
  • Play: Click “Play Now” to start gaming immediately
  • Learn More: Click “Details” to see comprehensive game information

Ready to transform your understanding of open science? Let’s play and learn together!

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All Replication Crisis Statistical Knowledge Ways of Working Pre-registration Reproducible Analysis FAIR Data Open Access Meta-Research
Copyright Dough

Copyright Dough is role-play workshop game where players use play-dough to model objects under different roles. After making their creations, players reveal task cards (scenarios) and licence cards, …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 30–60 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Copyright: The Card Game

Copyright: The Card Game is educational game designed to train educators, librarians, and support staff about UK copyright law. The game is designed to be played by up to 5 teams of up to 6 people and …

Gameplay: Team-Based Competition

Language: English, French, Welsh

Playtime: 1.5 – 3 hours

Topics: Research Integrity, General Open Research

Play Now Details
CURATE! The Digital Curator Game

CURATE is a board game about digital curation and preservation. Players move through the stages of the digital curation lifecycle (Develop, Educate, and Manage) while facing events like funding cuts, …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 45 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, General Open Research

Play Now Details
DANS Data game

The DANS Data Game is a multiplayer card game designed for researchers to explore the research data landscape. Players to collect sets of four cards by asking others for specific cards which are …

Gameplay: Team-Based Competition

Language: English

Topics: General Open Research

Play Now Details
Data Horror Escape Room

The Data Horror Escape Room is an interactive online game developed by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in collaboration with Leiden University and Eindhoven University of Technology. Set in a fictional …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Topics: Data Management

Play Now Details
Dilemma Game App

Developed by Erasmus University Rotterdam, it aims to stimulate awareness of integrity and professionalism in research. The game places participants in dilemmas in which real researchers may find …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English

Playtime: 5-10 minutes per dilemma

Topics: Research Integrity, General Open Research

Play Now Details
How to fail your research degree

An educational, tile-based board game where players take on the role of students trying to complete a master’s dissertation under time pressure. The aim is to score the best grade by linking as many …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 45–90 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Jeu de l'OA

The Open Access Board Game (Jeu de l’OA) was created for Open Access Week 2016 to raise awareness about open access publishing. Players move pawns across a 3-level board by answering Question cards …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: French

Playtime: 30 - 60 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Label the Benefits of Open Access

As part of the Open Access Week 2021 of Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, a series of mini-games were created with overarching open access themes. This game revolves around matching icons to labels …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 5-10 minutes

Topics: Open Access

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LEGO® Metadata for Reproducibility

This is a set of resources for the LEGO® Metadata for Reproducibility game. The LEGO® Metadata for Reproducibility game is an interactive game for 4-24 players, using LEGO® to help researchers explore …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English

Playtime: 1 hour

Topics: Open Data, Open Code, Replication

Play Now Details
Libérez la science

A board game which revolves around answering questions and navigating challenges related to scientific publishing, aiming to raise awareness of Open Science principles. Players compete to collect the …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: French

Topics: Open Access, Data management, scientific publications

Play Now Details
Memory: Open Research at RGU

As part of the Open Access Week 2021 of Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, a series of mini-games were created with overarching open science themes. This is a memory game, in which the player has to …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 5-20 minutes

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Access Escape Room

Players solve open science–related puzzles to unlock the storyline and complete the game in an engaging, narrative-driven format.

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative, Solo

Language: English

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Access Mystery

Open Access Mystery is an online role-playing mystery game. Created in the context of COVID-19 lockdowns, it is designed to be played virtually via Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams or any other online …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Access: True or False

As part of the Open Access week 2020, CCC’s Velocity of Content blog hosted a “True or False?” quiz to test readers’ knowledge of open access. It addressed some of the most common myths surrounding …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative, Competitive, Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 10 - 15 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Loves Science

This game revolves around matching core Open Science principles (white cards) with Open Science concepts (red cards). An Open Science Cupid is selected who decides upon the best fit, and the player …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 5 minutes - 24 hours

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, Open Access, Pre-registration, Open Code, Big Team Science, Open Methods, Open Hardware, General Open Research, Inclusivity

Play Now Details
Open Science Against Humanity

Open Science Against Humanity is a humorous card game inspired by Cards Against Humanity that uses Open Science–themed prompts to spark discussion, raise awareness, and encourage critical reflection …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: Varies, you can technically end the game whenever you want.

Topics: General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Science Alliance

A strategic card game where players build research teams and collaborate to produce open research outputs, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and open practices in science.

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: Printing of cards

Topics: Open Data, General Open Research, FAIR, open research software, citizen science and societal engagement, open scholarly publishing

Play Now Details
Open Science Escape Room

This game was made for the 2021 horror story week for Vrije University. It centers around the user aiding the cause of a repressed cyborg class. The user has to use external links which direct them to …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 30 minutes

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, Open Code, Open Methods, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Science in Peril

Open Science in Peril game-show style educational game about open science and publishing. Played in teams with an audience acting as the “editorial board,” it follows a Jeopardy-style format where …

Gameplay: Team-Based Competition

Language: English

Playtime: 60–90 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, Open Access, Open Peer Review, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Open Science Quest

A story-driven game which explores OS themes. The player assumes the role of a captain of a spaceship and must navigate through several challenges which link to Open Science. Its gameplay is based on …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 5 minutes

Topics: Open Access, General Open Research, ORCID

Play Now Details
Open up your research

The player follows Emma, a PhD student, on her way to publishing her research paper. Along the way she has to decide whether she will adopt traditional approaches or open science approaches to …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 10-20 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, Open Access, Pre-registration, General Open Research

Play Now Details
P.H.D Game "A Pursuit of Humor & Deception" (1986)

A word and definitions game where players earn credits through the clever use of words. To win, players must earn 80 credits and fulfil the unique requirements of one of the "professors".

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Play Now Details
Ph. D. The Game

Ph. D. The Game is a competetive card game that places players in a graduate school research lab. You draw, play, and discard cards, such as "Your PI Lost Funding" while gathering Figure Cards to …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 30-60 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Research Data Management Adventure

A role-playing game in which the player, an upstart researcher, navigates through the challenges of data management.

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Topics: Data Management

Play Now Details
Research Survival Game

In the Research Survival Game, players take on the role of researchers stranded on a deserted island. By navigating good and bad research practices, they encounter key concepts in Open Access, …

Gameplay: Competitive, Team-Based Competition

Language: English

Playtime: 30 minutes – 2 hours (depending on rounds, cards, and agreed endpoint)

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, Open Educational Resources, Open Methods, General Open Research

Play Now Details
Researchers, Impact & Publications (R.I.P.)

A parody-style card game, inspired by Cards Against Humanity, adapted for scholarly publishing and research data management. Players combine question and answer cards to create humorous or insightful …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, Open Access, Open Peer Review, General Open Research

Play Now Details
RGU Open Access Crossword

As part of the Open Access Week 2021 of Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, a series of mini-games were created with overarching open science themes. This one is a crossword incorporating open access …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 10-30 minutes

Topics: Open Access

Play Now Details
RGU Open Access Matching Pairs.

As part of the Open Access Week 2021 of Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, a series of mini-games were created with overarching open access themes. This game revolves around matching open access …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 5-10 minutes

Topics: Open Access

Play Now Details
RGU Open Access Scavenger Hunt

As part of the Open Access Week 2021 of Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, a series of mini-games were created with overarching open access themes. This games revolves around answering questions in a …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 5-15 minutes

Topics: Open Access

Play Now Details
Software Horror Escape Room

The Software Horror Game is an interactive narrative game developed by the Netherlands eScience Center that uses a horror theme to immerse players in the eerie experience of a researcher facing the …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Topics: Research Software Management

Play Now Details
Statcheck: The Game

Statcheck: The Game is a satirical card game where players rush to publish two papers. To succeed, they must combine test, statistic, and p-value cards to create publishable results, while navigating …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Peer Review, Open Methods, Statistical Knowledge, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The Game of Open Access (UCLA)

The Game of Open Access is an educational board game that introduces and tests knowledge of Open Access publishing. Players move around the board, answer OA-related questions, and collect points …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English

Playtime: 25-45 minutes

Topics: Open Access, Open Peer Review, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The Open Science Files

An interactive, case-based puzzle game where players act as open science investigators. They solve four interconnected “case files” (Licensing, Data, Choosing a Journal, Research Partners), each with …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Data, Open Access, Open Peer Review, Open Methods, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The Openscientometer

This game produces 4 prompts with information relating to Open Science and they correspond to a numerical value. The player can click on each prompt in order to find out more contextual information …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English, French

Playtime: 60-90 minutes

Topics: Open Access, General Open Research, Article Processing Charges prices, bibliodiversity, Open Access (OA) books and OA books publishing, open data and research data repositories, FAIR, open education, open peer review

Play Now Details
The Publish or Perish Game

The Publish or Perish Game is a satirical, card-based game that immerses players in the competitive and chaotic world of academic publishing. Players try to gain citations by publishing questionable …

Gameplay: Competitive

Language: English, Chinese

Topics: Research Integrity, Open Peer Review, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The Publishing Trap

The Publishing Trap is an educational board game (also playable online) where players act as academics making publishing and communication choices. Through career stages like thesis, conferences, …

Gameplay: Team-Based Competition

Language: English

Playtime: 1.5–2 hours

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, Open Educational Resources, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The puzzling hunt for Open Access

This game offers mixed media-based puzzles that can be completed by a single player. Its premise is that a villain has locked away all research of the University of Essex and is planning on locking up …

Gameplay: Solo

Language: English

Playtime: 25-30 minutes

Topics: Open Data, Open Access, General Open Research

Play Now Details
The Transparent and Open Science Game

This is a relatively simple board game in which players use a die to progress to the final field of “Science Heaven”. Each time they land on a field, they either draw an event card or an action card …

Gameplay: Cooperative/Collaborative

Language: English

Playtime: 45-60 minutes

Topics: Research Integrity, General Open Research

Play Now Details

39 games available in the portal

Open Research Games Portal

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Direct Game Links

Each game now has its own dedicated page! Use the search above to find games, or visit them directly using URLs like:

/open-research-games-portal/open-research-games/copyright-the-card-game-id-034/

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