Context/background of the projectThe RU EU? Project was conceived against a background of ongoing change and division across Europe. Issues relating to National and European identity are highly topical and of fundamental importance to our sense of who we are in the world. A better understanding of these issues is urgently required, given the power of perceived differences between groups to lead to conflict. Another influence on the project was the increasing interest in “the use of ICT as a driver for systemic change to increase the quality and relevance of education”. Serious games provide modern digital approaches to learning that emphasise 21st century skills which prioritize what students can do with knowledge, rather than just focusing on knowledge acquisition. Consequently it was thought that a game-based approach to exploring National and European identity might help to provide students with an innovative approach to understanding this complicated topic.ObjectivesThe Erasmus+ funded RU EU? project aimed to develop an innovative digital game, the RU EU? game, to provide an engaging platform for students across Europe to confront some of the complex issues surrounding National and European identity and to help these young Europeans to develop a better understanding of their own and others’ feelings of belonging to or alienation from the EU. The project also developed support materials for teachers to help them use the game most effectively for their students. The game and support materials can be found at the project website: https://rueu-project.eu/Number and type/profile of participantsThe intended audience for the RU EU? game is social science and business students across Europe who need to know something about European identity as part of their degree course. Games design students will also be interested in the game as a case study in game design, looking at how the learning outcomes were specified and how the game mechanics address the learning outcomes. The game will also be of particular interest to Erasmus students and other international students at university in Europe, as well as staff who teach on programmes and modules where European identity is relevant or who support international students in their studies. Description of activities undertakenThe early project activities provided background information to assist in the design of the game: O1: the literature review of European identity summarised varied approaches to understanding European identity and provided a strong theoretical foundation for the game; O2: the resource review identified existing paper and pencil and learning resources (including games) in the areas of politics and national and European identity, and O3: the user requirements analysis provided empirical evidence from potential players of the game about their understanding of European identity, what they would want to and expect to see in such a game, as well as their game preferences. The findings from these activities as well as extended discussions fed into O4: Development of the game content and decision-making scenarios which provided the initial description of the journalist narrative and the proposed game tools: the interview tools, the discussion tool, the Newsflash tools and Final assignment tools as well as the content for the 5 game scenarios (Brexit; Who is European? Different attitudes between nations; The rights of citizens to work in different partner countries; Changes to European identity over time and Immigration and the rights of migrants). O5: Design specification document for the game provided a more detailed and coherent account of how these would fit together to provide the blueprint for the game development. O6: The game and game platform are the key deliverables for the project. The game development implemented the ideas presented in O5 and the final working version of the game can be downloaded from the RU EU? Project website: https://rueu-project.eu. A full description of the final game can also be found here along with O7: The Support materials for the game that describe how the game can best be used in teaching and training activities. 5 best practice case studies and use case scenarios that describe the varied teaching opportunities for using the game can also be found. O8: Piloting and Evaluation: The final project activity was full piloting and evaluation of the game. Results and impact attainedThe project has been very successful in academic dissemination, via journal articles and conference papers to a diverse audience of learning technology experts, games experts, learning and pedagogy experts as well as social scientists, the content experts. The multiplier events extended this dissemination to a diverse audience of educationalists and technology experts.Longer-term benefits.We have a working game and this will be used in classes where an understanding of European identity is relevant, as well as game design classes.