Game on

John Whitfield presents a seasonal gift box of research-policy-themed games and puzzles guaranteed to baffle and amuse…but mainly baffle.

In November, the team behind the European Union’s Responsible Research and Innovation Toolkit project added the Game of Open Access, to its, well, toolkit.

In the game—devised by staff at the University of Huddersfield’s Computing and Library Services—players move counters around a board. They progress by giving the right answer to questions such as “Are academics at the University of Huddersfield expected to pay their article processing charges?” (tip: the answer isn’t “expected, no; encouraged, yes”) and hoping they land on squares such as “You find articles for your literature review for free on unpaywall.org. Go forward one space!”