CERNland: addicted to edu-gaming

CERNland, the CERN site designed for kids, has launched a new game environment dedicated to the Universe. If you are between 7 and 99 and like challenges, embark on a journey through the history of the Universe and become addicted to (healthy) gaming!

 

Welcome on board the CERNland spaceship!

Fifteen games, a newsroom and a brand-new game environment on the evolution of the Universe: since its official launch in 2009 to mark the 20-year anniversary of the invention of the Web, CERNland hasn't stopped growing.

In CERNland, games can be accessed by clicking on points corresponding to the experiment locations or on specific buildings on the CERN site. Everything in CERNland is animated and interactive, even the educational (“learn”) parts where the player can find more in-depth explanations. A zoom-in animated sequence brings you to the CERN site, while a zoom-out on board a spaceship takes you to the frontiers of the Universe.

Each single character in CERNland is specially designed and drawn for the site, and the programming behind the animations accurately reproduces the specific physics processes that the game is about. But don’t think about all this. CERNland must be enjoyed without too much physics thinking. Allow yourself to feel like a young child again and start playing. A cute spaceship is now there to welcome you on board. Don’t forget to check the journey logbook from time to time and try to get to the Big Bang faster than the others!

CERNland kudos

Available in six languages, CERNland receives a few hundred visitors every day, of whom more than 80% on average percentage are new visitors. In 2010 the site was awarded the physics.org web prize. Over the years and with the regular addition of new games, it keeps collecting fans from all over the world. Browsing the net for spontaneous comments, you can find the following quotes: “Cute and cuddly. Not how you'd normally describe the biggest of big physics projects. But I've just spent a happy hour exploring and playing in CERNland, and I'm as smitten as a kitten. I've often cringed at some of the well-meaning, yet misguided attempts to teach kids about particle physics. But CERNland has got it spot on.” And tweets like: http://www.cernland.net/  #CernLand by @CERN fantastic! #physics. And blogposts: “I swear I am 24 years old. GO HERE TO VISIT CERNland! #this is Super Mario meets the LHC #CERN #i swear i am 24 years old #LHC #Large Hadron Collider”

 

by Antonella Del Rosso