Die Englisch Detektive (2010)

"Die Englisch Detektive" is an educational game for enhancing children's vocabulary in English as a foreign language. It uses the interactive electronic tiptoi® pen (sold both separately and in combo packages with games).

The players (or player, as this can either be played cooperatively or solo) are detectives. They are trying to stop Professor Mad, who is wreaking havoc in several places in town (professor's laboratory, zoo, museum, TV studio, open-air concert stage, toy store, detective's headquarters, fast-food restaurant). In order to stop him, they have to complete assignments in all these places. If a player completes an assignment, he/she earns a medal. If an assignment fails, Professor Mad gets the medal instead. The players win if they have more medals than the professor at the end of the game.

The electronic pen is used to discover the main game board and the eight location boards. Tapping components with the pen triggers an audio explanation of the components, and the pen also tells the players the English words for the objects whose depiction they have tapped. An info button triggers hints and rules explanations. The pen also functions as a game master and a die: when all players have registered their player tokens, the pen chooses a start player. The active player taps his token with the pen, and the pen tells him how many spaces to move. It also announces three locations as the current targets for assignments. If a player reaches one of these locations, he takes the corresponding location board and tries to complete the assignment. Assignments include things like tapping a correct number or color code, or musical instruments. All the instructions are given by the pen and the players have to associate the English words they hear with the corresponding pictures. When an assignment is completed, the pen announces a new target location. (There are always three active locations, and all eight locations are used in every game.)