Pyrotown: a serious educational game for Integrated Fire Management students

Pyrotown is a serious game developed as an educational tool for the Master-level course 'Integrated Fire Management' at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). It is a role-playing game (or social simulation) designed to support social learning amongst Master students regarding the challenges that face multi-stakeholder groups and communities that attempt to create an integrated fire management strategy in a complex and changing world. It includes two surprise crisis events that interrupt the game in real time to add new elements and heighten the urgency for decision-making. After playing the game in groups of 5-7 people, the whole class reconvenes for a debriefing discussion. The game takes several hours to play and is usually played over the course of an afternoon to allow for breaks. It does not require any special boards or pieces to play. The moderator only needs to print maps and instructions for the starting scenario and each role.