Etat de Fribourg

Forestopia

Forestopia is a role-playing game—part physical, part digital—designed to prevent extremism among students nearing the end of compulsory education. Commissioned by the State of Fribourg, the game is accompanied by 4 ready-to-use lesson plans for teachers.

Forestopia is the result of a call for projects launched in 2021 by the Département de la Sécurité et de la Justice of the Canton of Fribourg. The goal was to produce animated videos as part of a prevention program targeting radicalisation and violent extremism at Cycle 3 of compulsory education. We responded to this call with the concept of a serious game—and that’s how it all began.

To develop this serious game around a sensitive topic, we were supported by scientific advisor Vincent Joris, a psychologist specialized in this field. For the development of the pedagogical method integrated into the game, we collaborated with teacher Karim Hamdani, who also played a key role in helping us test the game in classrooms.

Forestopia is a turnkey role-playing game for classrooms, combining physical and digital elements. Each student receives a card and plays the role of an Animal living in a democratic society under threat from extremist groups. An app projects animated films interspersed with live voting phases. The app facilitates debates, randomly selects participants, and adapts the story based on the outcome of the votes.

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