Universitätsklinikum Ulm and TH Köln develop a serious game as a preventive tool in volunteer work with young people.

A wolf wearing a rabbit mask: In the serious game “Uuugh – Falsches Spiel”, players take on the role of a perpetrator in a fictional sports club in order to understand manipulative strategies — and, as a result, recognize them more easily in real life. This free game, designed for young people aged 12 and up, is accompanied by an informational booklet.

“Sexual violence occurs in institutions such as schools, as well as in volunteer settings and sports clubs. A survey of around 2,000 athletes showed that 26 percent had experienced sexual violence without physical contact, and 19 percent with physical contact, in sports clubs,” says Prof. Dr. Jörg M. Fegert, Medical Director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at the Universitätsklinikum Ulm and head of the project under which the digital game was developed. “Given the importance of volunteer work in Germany, there is a clear need for preventive measures to protect children and young people,” Fegert continues.

The serious game aims to make a meaningful contribution toward meeting this need. “In recent years, many preventive approaches to sexual violence have been developed. However, creative ideas are still needed to raise awareness about protecting children and young people—both among adults and within the younger generation itself. It’s crucial to reach them where they are—and one of those places is the digital world. Serious games can play a key role here,” explains PD Dr. Ulrike Hoffmann from the Universitätsklinikum Ulm, who developed the game together with a team from the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) at TH Köln, led by Prof. Dr. Greta Hoffmann.

A Fable-Like Aesthetic Enables Playful Distancing

The game opens with a backstory: in the seemingly harmonious setting of a sports club, players take on the role of a new coach who begins to pursue their own interests, cross boundaries, and become a perpetrator. This figure is symbolically represented as a wolf wearing a rabbit mask. “We deliberately chose a fable-inspired aesthetic with monsters and animals for the character design. This allows us to avoid gender stereotypes, draw attention to power imbalances and manipulative relationships, and at the same time create a sense of playful distancing,” says Prof. Dr. Greta Hoffmann from CGL.

The goal of the game is to use manipulative strategies and interactions to isolate club members from their peers and create dependency. However, no actual acts of assault are depicted. “Our serious game doesn’t teach perpetrator skills — it reveals their strategies. It aims to answer questions like: How do perpetrators operate? How can I recognize their strategies? What can I do to protect myself and others?” Hoffmann explains. The game ends when the wolf is either exposed or manages to complete its objectives undetected.

Throughout the experience, players are not left to navigate the game alone: information cards explain the perpetrator’s strategies, and a protective guardian owl appears at intervals to offer support and advice. It highlights what to look out for in everyday life to prevent sexual violence. If players begin to feel uncomfortable while playing, the game can be paused at any time by clicking on an emergency exit icon, which also displays contact details for the “Sexual Abuse Helpline.”

About the Game

Uuugh – Falsches Spiel was developed as part of the project “Schutzkonzepte in der ehrenamtlichen Arbeit mit Kindern und Jugendlichen: Entwicklung einer Informations- und Fortbildungsplattform,” funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Frauen, Senioren und Jugend. The project was led by Prof. Dr. Jörg M. Fegert at the Universitätsklinikum Ulm. The game was developed by the “Schutzkonzepte/Schutzprozesse im Gesundheitswesen und E-Learning” unit, led by PD Dr. Ulrike Hoffmann (University Hospital Ulm), together with a team from the Cologne Game Lab at TH Köln under the direction of Prof. Dr. Greta Hoffmann.