On the trail of archeology: LWL presents the gaming app

Life in the near future is convenient: almost everything is delivered by autonomous drones. Leaving the house is not necessary. So most people don’t. Just a different atmosphere. Joe loves to ride his bike through the misty city because there is a sense that there is something important to discover. But the fog leaves a strange feeling in the head. When strange energy anomalies occur throughout the city and the delivery system collapses, the world appears frozen. It is now up to Joe to figure out how to fix the system. While exploring the city, Joe discovers that nothing is quite as it seems.

Hearn: How to become a ‘half an archaeologist’ with the game app Jo’s Memory

Behind the world of Jo is the new gaming app “Jo’s Memory” for smartphones. In the dystopian world, the user rides his bike through the city streets as Jo and has to find the antiques hidden in packages. Players explore things in an intuitive way and thus fill their memory with knowledge about the discoveries. The special thing about it: the finds are real archaeological objects on display at the Museum of Archeology, the Roman Museum of the Westphalian-Libyan Regional Union (LWL) and the German Mining Museum in Bochum.

The application was presented Thursday, September 1, at the LWL Museum of Archeology in Hearn with a demo on the big screen and a real bike cycle. The Games app is a joint development of the three museums in Herne, Haltern and Bochum.

“For many people, archeology is a kind of black box,” says Barbara Rüschoff-Parzinger, Head of LWL Culture, when introducing the app. This is why LWL wants to make the field of archeology particularly interesting for young people and make it accessible.

“It was important for us to reach the target groups by involving them in the development of the application from the beginning,” explains museum director Doreen Mölders. So about 100 people from all over Germany participated in the development of the game app as a council of citizens. “We learned a lot from working with the advisory board because users grew up with digital media,” Mulders says. Therefore, LWL also wants to work with citizens on future projects.

As a member of the Citizens Advisory Council, Kiana Mellinghaus (24), who studies environmental toxicology at the University of Duisburg-Essen, has been involved in the implementation of “Jo’s Memory”. “I love going to the museum, but I can understand anyone who doesn’t like it,” says the 24-year-old from Bochum. “That’s why I like the idea that museums want to keep up with the times and develop a game app to bring more young people into the museum.”

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Together with Joe, the user becomes “half an archaeologist without even noticing it,” says Raphael Muko Schiller of the Berlin design studio, who was responsible for the creative implementation of the app, describing the virtual adventure journey. Mulders explains that playing “Jo’s Memory” is about acquiring the skills needed in real archaeology, such as the proper care or handling of finds.

Jo’s Memory has been available for free since September 1 in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. More information about the Games app is available on the website blackbox.game/josmemory to exist.

>>> Background on gaming app creation

More articles from this category can be found here: Herne / Wanne-Eickel