In the second in our five-part series looking back at some of the great things that have come about since IPEN began in 2020, we’re taking a look at an interactive game hosted on the IPEN website.
Following the creation of the Public Engagement Toolkit in 2021, the IPEN Executive Team came up with a new way of using it – a virtual escape room game called Terranova.
Using the principles in the toolkit – and working with escape room builder Sacha Coward and Digital Creative Agency Code & Wander – we created an exciting online environment where players work together to solve several challenges. These challenges all have different elements of the toolkit embedded in an interactive way.
Hosted on the IPEN website, this virtual game can be used for team-building exercises, as an icebreaker on a team away day or as part of a workshop. It is there for any team that wishes to develop an activity to enhance awareness of effective public engagement – you simply need a minimum of four people to play the game.
We created this for parliamentary teams around the world to engage with ideas of public engagement in an innovative and exciting way. You may notice some familiar faces from the IPEN Executive team throughout the game!
Try out our virtual escape room game, Terranova.
The game was developed thanks to the support from an Impact Acceleration Account grant from the Leeds Institute for Societal Futures (previously known as Leeds Social Sciences Institute) and funding from Research England’s Policy Support Funding.
Your feedback
We’d love to hear what you think of the game if you try it out. Please let us know any feedback by emailing us at [email protected].
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‘Five years of IPEN’ logo by Fiona Blair.
Article published on 30 March 2026.