Do you know what lies behind the "lost voice" of Lučina, a vanished village in the Šumava region? Or why the gamekeeper from Pleš became a smuggler? You can find the answers in the games created as part of the international HeritageGame project, in which the University of South Bohemia is one of the partners. The project culminated in its final conference, Gamification as a Catalyst for Sustainable Cultural Heritage Practices, held from 17 to 21 September 2026 at Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University in Turkey.
The keynote speakers were Dr Vojtěch Blažek and Dr Petra Karvánková. They showed how game principles and digital technologies can bring cultural heritage closer to people. Associate Professor Jiří Rypl and representatives of the KreativEU alliance also attended the conference on behalf of the University of South Bohemia.
The conference was followed by a five-day walking seminar, a form of teaching on the move and directly in the field. Participants explored the cultural, natural and intangible heritage of southern Turkey. They visited historic Tarsus, associated with St Paul, the ancient site of Uzuncaburç, the Narlıkuyu Mosaic Museum and the Cennet–Cehennem sinkholes ("Heaven and Hell"). At each site, they discussed how to interpret heritage clearly, how to engage visitors and where digital tools and games can help. These discussions produced concrete proposals for game concepts for individual sites, as well as ideas on how educational apps can support sustainable tourism.
The main output of the project is the platform play.heritagegame.eu. It features games from Czechia, Slovakia, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, available in the national languages and in English. All of them are free to play, and all you need is a mobile phone. Each game guides you through a specific place, tells its story and challenges you with quiz questions, riddles and puzzles. From Czechia, you can play Mystery of the Lost Voice (Lučina), In the Footsteps of the King of the Bohemian Forest (Pleš) or KomunikuJU at the Faculty of Education of the University of South Bohemia. International games include Discover Úľany Wetland in Slovakia and a Turkish journey through Adana and Mersin. Publications and other academic outputs of the project are available at heritagegame.eu.
The meeting in Turkey also strengthened cooperation among the partners of the KreativEU alliance. The experience gained will be reflected in future courses, research and digital tools that will bring cultural heritage closer to students and the public, both at home and abroad.
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