Innovative and creative: At the showcase in the winter semester 2025/2026 of the university Neu-Ulm In February, students from various degree programs and semesters at HNU presented their project work. This semester, particular attention was paid to the project results of the Game Project 3 module in the third semester of the Game Production and Management (GPM) program. For one semester, the students worked on developing serious games for people with acquired brain injuries in the Swabia model region (MeH MoS). The projects were created in close cooperation with the practical partner, the Swabia district, which also awarded a special prize for the best result at the showcase.
Following acute care and rehabilitation, people with acquired brain injuries often fall through the cracks in their care. Therapy options are limited, especially in rural areas, and the transition to independent living presents many with significant challenges. In Professor Michael Hebel's course, the students aimed to develop serious games that promote daily routines, strengthen motivation for self-help, train motor, language, and cognitive skills, facilitate social interaction, and can even support long-term career prospects. A particular focus was placed on accessibility and usability: the games had to be intuitively usable even with motor impairments. Furthermore, therapists needed to be able to control content via an access management system. Technically, the teams utilized a wide variety of platforms – from smartphones to VR headsets.
From the concept phase to the presentation
The projects went through several development stages. Collaboration with the district of Swabia took place via weekly sprint reviews, in which Prof. Dr. Alexander Würfel and Tamara Langhof from the Faculty of Health Management, along with Stefan Doerle, project manager of MeH MoS from the district of Swabia, provided feedback on the games developed. In addition, Stefan Doerle recruited numerous rehabilitation facilities in the district of Swabia, where the students could test their games directly with therapists and patients. The showcase provided the opportunity to present the results publicly for the first time – and the response was overwhelming. Visitors were able to try out the games themselves and talk to the teams.
A project intended to have an impact
The developed serious games will then be tested with real patients in Augsburg. This gives the students the opportunity to realize a university project that can be directly applied in the everyday lives of people with acquired brain injuries.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Würfel emphasized: “This current project brings to fruition the idea that originated in 2019 as part of the MeH MoS research project, conducted jointly with the district of Swabia. The results are impressive: Patients are actively involved in the care process. Location-independent access creates new avenues for reaching patients. Logging activities can make progress more transparent and simultaneously provide starting points for further developing the services. The Faculty of Health Management and the Game Production and Management program at HNU offer a perhaps unique framework for developing such new approaches in healthcare management.”
Photo: Christoph Kalchgruber tests the game "Heart & Bean" (HNU)