Asteroid Alarm is an Escape Room to make learning about the EU and its institutions an exciting group activity.
Players use "The Easy Book on the EU" to find out details about EU legislation. The book is one of multiple ways to gather information needed for solving the riddles.
How do you get a law passed in the EU? Where does parliament meet again? And how do we get the Smurfs out of the box? – These were the kinds of questions faced by groups that play the escape game "Asteroid Alarm" created by the Hanover Adult Education Centre. Asteroid Alarm is about saving the world and understanding how the European Union works at the same time.
Asteroid Alarm is a game for teams of eight to twelve people that works according to the principle of the now well-established "escape rooms". Within an hour, the participants have to solve tasks that are hidden in suitably designed props in the room and follow a story. The story of Asteroid Alarm is about the threat posed to planet Earth by a large asteroid. The players find themselves in the role of scientists who have developed a protective shield against asteroids; however, they need money to build the shield and they hope to get this money from the European Union as quickly as possible. To do this, they need to understand how decisions are made in the European Union, i.e. how the EU draws up and adopts laws, with the cooperation of the most important institutions: Commission, Parliament and Council.
A first step in the game: explore the geography of Europe.
Game prop: word gap board on the topic of EU legislation. The playing team has to find and place the right institutions out of a collection of 10 of which 7 are just wrong.
The Ada and Theodor Lessing Adult Education Centre developed the game two years ago as part of an international cooperation project funded by the EU through the Erasmus+ programme. Since then, the game has not only been used in numerous rounds at the adult education centre in Hanover (and elsewhere in Lower Saxony) but also in schools, especially in the tenth grade at grammar schools, where the European Union is part of the curriculum. The game offers an intensive, fun, experience- and teamwork-orientated approach to the subject matter of the EU, which is often perceived as dry.
Players on the way of sending all 705 (now: 720) MEPs into parliament.
The teams discover the legislative process in the EU step by step in the room designed with EU and space themes: Who drafts the bill? Who has to approve it? Who elects the MEPs? They have exactly one hour to do this. In addition to the ticking clock, a large monitor in the room shows a view of the stars and the menacing approaching asteroid. At the end of the game – typically after exactly one hour – the funding for the asteroid protection shield, symbolised by chocolate euros in a cash box, is awarded. The VHS game leader team provides tips adapted to the group dynamics to ensure that the teams just about reach the goal and have a sense of achievement.
Afterwards, pupils, teachers and VHS educators sit together in a circle, discuss what they have experienced, analyse their teamwork and deepen their knowledge of the institutional structure and legislative procedures of the EU in the discussion.
Classroom in Sophienschule (Hannover) turned into the Asteroid Alarm escape room. A group of students clad in laboratory coats solve the riddles.
Materials for download
Collection of printable props for the game (zip)
Some of the props
31 country plates are part of the game props collection: 27 EU member countries, and 4 ones that are not, not yet, or not any more members of the EU.
Poster with the 27 EU commissioners, plus 3 false ones. Students have to find out which are the false ones, and use the information to find out to which real commissioner to turn for the next step.
Set of labels for the pedestrals of the smurfs that represent the 27 ministers in the Council of Ministers.
A cardboard cylinder represents the building of the European parliament where MEPs have to gather. Behind it you see plates to represent various European cities. Only one of them is the official seat of the European Parliament.
Built into a cupboard in the classroom: a computer screen and loudspeakers and microphone to communicate with assistance orbitting Earth. The space wallpaper is part of the printable props.
Various wooden and metal boxes contain messages to the researchers. But where are the codes for the padlocks?
A large screen opens the perspective into space. Also, a clock counts down minutes from 60 to 0 - the time remaining for the team to save Earth.In front of the screen: the "Institutions" puzzle providing one of the last codes needed in the game.
If you want to hire us
The props for the game are available for everybody to download, and there are instructions published for you to re-enact the game. However, admittedly, doing this is altogether a complex task. Instead, it could be easier for you to simply hire us. We will come to your facility with all the props and with two trained pedagogues to run the game with your students. Here is what you need to know for this:
Practical requirements:
We need:
- A classroom to serve as the laboratory (escape game room)
- A second room for doing the preparation and particularly the reflexion circles. This room can be separate.
- A third room (can be smaller) where the game masters have their control station (computerized); this room should be adjacent to the game room; we also can instal our game master station in the reflexion room (if it is large enough) but then it needs to be adjacent to the game room.
- A flipchart stand
- A large TV screen / computer screen; ideally of more than 1,50 m diagonal. This will serve for the space view. Most schools have one such large movable screen available. Note that a white board and beamer will not do; the large screen needs to have black background.
- A bucket, a mop, a broom, a dustpan
- A ladder so that we can reach the ceiling of the classroom to attach things to it.
- WLAN access of sufficient capacity for video transmission; access for at least 5 computers (which we bring with us)
For hiring us please write an e-mail to:
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Information flyer
A group of students after successfully solving the task. Foreground: the Council of Ministers gathered, to give the budget a go.
