The Legend of the Lost Emerald, a PBS Wisconsin Education point-and-click adventure video game, won a gold medal in the 2022 International Serious Play Awards Program.

The International Serious Play Awards honor outstanding commercial and student products which incorporate game elements and were created for use in education or training. Entries are judged on the following criteria ­– orientation, engagement, interactivity/feedback, learning objectives, assessment, aesthetics and gameplay.

Released in February, The Legend of the Lost Emerald provides learners in grades 4-6 the opportunity to use critical thinking and historical inquiry skills by stepping into the shoes of Jules, a maritime archaeologist. Players dive underwater and gather clues to build evidence and uncover the real treasure ­– the stories of shipwrecks inspired by real Great Lakes history. The game was produced by PBS Wisconsin Education, Wisconsin Sea Grant, Field Day Learning Games, an educator advisory group of Wisconsin teachers, and play-tested by over 500 students in Wisconsin classrooms.

“I have seen The Legend of the Lost Emerald spark so many fun and meaningful learning experiences for kids,” PBS Wisconsin director of education Alyssa Tsagong said. “Creating this game with and for educators from start to finish made it what it is today: a high-quality, engaging, and beautiful learning adventure!”

Kate Seibel, a fourth grade teacher at Auburndale Elementary School is one of more than a dozen Wisconsin educators who helped design The Legend of the Lost Emerald.

“The game is this beautiful package – the diversity in it, the people in different roles, looking for evidence, going through the clues and how the parts connect,” Seibel said. “This game is how I can get my amazing students a toe in the water of maritime archaeology.”

The Legend of the Lost Emerald is available for free online access at pbswisconsineducation.org/emerald.

Funding for The Legend of the Lost Emerald is provided by Floating Eyeballs Family Fund, David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, Dwight and Linda Davis Foundation, Dr. Henry Anderson and Shirley Levine, Elizabeth Olson, Robert J. Lenz, Wooden Nickel Fund, A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust, City of Sheboygan, Elizabeth Parker in memory of George S. Parker II, Sharon and Tim Thousand, Ruth St. John and John Dunham West Foundation, Ron and Colleen Weyers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Sea Grant, John J. Frautschi Family Foundation, Trust Point, Ellsworth and Carla Peterson Charitable Foundation, Timothy William Trout Education Fund, Focus Fund for Education and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Educational Communications Board and The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

PBS Wisconsin is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV, Madison; WPNE-TV, Green Bay; WHRM-TV, Wausau; WLEF-TV, Park Falls; WHLA-TV, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

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