In search of belonging
Montpellier University and its partners in the MUSE project, together with Montpellier-based start-upAtlantide, are launching a new challenge for students with the Montpellier University Sherlock Experience (M.U.S.E) app. This geolocation-based investigation game allows players to discover or rediscover the various campuses of the University of Montpellier and its partner, Institut-Agro, and to better understand the unique identity of one of the oldest universities in France and Europe.
What subjects were taught at Mende College? Who was Narcissa? Who discovered bromine? But also: where can I play basketball, drink coffee, or borrow a book when I study at UM? These are all questions that will be easy to answer after playing M.U.S.E. This new puzzle game, offered by the University of Montpellier and its partners in the MUSE project, was designed by the Montpellier-based start-up Atlantide. Specializing in geolocation-based historical puzzle games, this start-up is already well known in Montpellier for its Fabre and the City app. The principle here is the same: a simple scenario that serves as the backdrop for an adventure through time and space.
Treasure hunt
A mysterious chest containing a priceless but unknown treasure has just been discovered in the university archives. The university is asking its best students to search for the four keys that open the chest before they fall into the wrong hands. To find them, the heroes, i.e. the players, will have to explore four university campuses: Triolet for the key to innovation, Richter for the key to creativity, the pharmacy campus for protection, and the city center for the key to health.
On each campus, the app guides players from scrolls to cryptexes, helping them discover the history of the various sites of the University of Montpellier and its partner, Institut-Agro. Each puzzle is an opportunity to observe your surroundings in a different way, by looking up at a plaque, bust, or inscription you may never have noticed before. Put simply, the M.U.S.E game invites its audience to discover the essential places of student life, such as (S)PACE, the university libraries, and the sports facilities. "One of the objectives of the game is to familiarize students with the different sites of the University, but also to remind them that as UM students, they have access to all these sites and all the services offered there," explains Karyn Pravossoudovitch, student initiatives project manager at the Muse department and the campus life department (DVC), who oversaw the game's development in collaboration with the student life office (BVE).
Building a sense of belonging
As players advance on the geolocated map, the game, which combines augmented reality and archival documents, unlocks new characters, providing new clues or posing new puzzles. Little by little, through visits to the campus or the streets of the city center, the game weaves together an identity through the riddles. The identity of an 800-year-old university that today is rich in the heritage of all its components, from the oldest, medicine, to the School of Chemistry, a new component institution.
"Strengthening this sense of belonging to UM is one of the game's main objectives. Students often feel more connected to their department than to the University, " notes Karyn Pravossoudovitch. " With this game, we want them to feel like students of the University of Montpellier." " However, the game is not only aimed at students and could well entertain not only UM staff working on the various campuses or in the city center, but also Montpellier residents curious to learn more about a university that is inseparable from the history of the city that saw its birth. "Personally, I discovered things about the various campuses that I had never seen before, even though I work there," says Karyn Pravossoudovitch with a smile . What do you do during your lunch break?
Montpellier University Sherlock Experience is available free of charge on all download platforms. Allow about an hour for each route. Remember to charge your battery!