Environmental geotechnics with a spy twist! Get ready to dive into a challenge where reasoning, teamwork, and environmental geotechnics come together! In Geocodes, you and your classmates become secret agents racing to uncover codewords hidden in the soil of knowledge. But be careful: one wrong word could lead you straight to the contaminant, and then... boom! Game over! Can you decipher the clues from your geo-master and avoid defeat? Let’s see who really knows the ground they stand on!
Content covered: Key concepts in Environmental Geotechnics
Target audience: undergraduate Civil Engineering students and postgraduate Geotechnical Engineering students, especially those studying Environmental Geotechnics.
Number of players: Groups of 4 to 8 players (2 to 4 per team)
Average playtime: 30 to 45 minutes.
Game type: Team-based, educational, competitive, cooperative, deduction and word-association
Objective: Uncover all your team’s codewords before the other team does—or lead them to pick the contaminant and lose!
Format: Printable physical game, with rules, cards, secret key, and glossary available as colorful PDFs
How to use it: Perfect as a practical activity for Geotechnics, Environmental or Engineering classes—either to reinforce or introduce key concepts, in pairs or small groups.
What do you need? Printed game kit (code cards, signal cards, templates, manual, glossary, and reference sheets) and stopwatch. Print the manual and glossary double-sided on A4 paper. They are formatted for booklet-style assembly. Print the cards single-sided, also on A4. Cut, fold, and glue as instructed in the PDFs.
By participating in the game, students develop key cognitive skills essential for mastering the topic. According to the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, the learning objectives include:
The game was supervised by Dr Mariana Chrusciak. All the content and design were developed by Isabelle César, based on fundamental topics in environmental geotechnics covered in the Environmental Geotechnics course.
Before the final version, the game was tested with a focus group of students (Ethics Process No. 86713525.9.0000.5302 - 2024 – UFRR), and the feedback was essential for enhancing the clarity of the clues, the balance of difficulty, and the game dynamics.
Game: GeoCodes
Bio:Environmental Geotech with a touch of espionage! Get ready to dive into a challenge where logic, teamwork, and geotechnical knowledge come together!
Last update: 14/07/25
