As educators who believe in lifelong learning, we joined forces in the Erasmus+ project NEED – News Literacy on Board with one clear goal: to create tools that help people become more confident in understanding and questioning the news. Together, we wanted to make resources that are easy to use, engaging, and that inspire learners to think critically and spot misinformation in today’s fast-moving world of information.
🎲 The Assessment Game – Checking What You Know
Our first creation was the Assessment Board Game, built to test knowledge and skills in news literacy. With dice, tokens, and a huge set of 540 question cards, lead players through three main areas: Understanding the News Landscape, Finding Reliable Information, and Verifying News.
It’s more than just fun. By writing down correct and incorrect answers in a score table, players get a clear picture of where they’re strong and where they could improve. In this way, the game turns play into a moment of reflection and growth.
In the assessment process, each player keeps the cards they answered and marks them as correct or incorrect. The totals for each area are then recorded in an evaluation table, giving a clear overview of the player’s knowledge and skills in every competence area.
🎲 The Educational Game – Learning While Playing
Next, we designed the Educational Board Game—a lively, interactive way to actually build and strengthen news literacy skills. Played in teams or with 2–4 players, it mixes knowledge with strategy and a little bit of luck.
Special spaces like Double points and Horseshoe cards keep things exciting, while QR codes on each question card lead players to an online platform offering helpful information and resources tailored to the question. With 120 carefully chosen questions, the game can easily be adapted to focus on the areas players need most.
📥 Both games are free to download from our website, ready to print and play. They’re available in English, Bulgarian, Turkish, Slovenian and Serbian so they can be used in various settings—schools, libraries, community centres, etc.
🌐 The NEED Learning Platform – Your Online Hub for News Literacy
To complement the board games, we developed the NEED Learning Platform, a digital space where learners can explore a wide range of open educational resources (OER).
Everything is neatly organized by topic, sub-topic, type, and language, so users can quickly find what they need. The platform is designed to:
- Support lifelong learning for teachers, students, and self-learners
- Encourage critical thinking by helping users recognize manipulation and misinformation
- Build confidence, so people can engage thoughtfully with media and news
The platform includes articles, video and interactive materials, all carefully selected and developed by experts in education, media, and information literacy.
Learning Through Play and Beyond
Within the NEED project, we’ve combined the energy of play with the depth of digital learning. The games and the platform together create practical and engaging ways to learn.
We invite you to explore the platform and download the games—to play, learn, and grow. In a time when information spreads faster than ever, these resources offer a steady guide for anyone who wants to better understand the news and think about it more critically.