Corona Minister was a part of the three-year project Giv De Unge Ordet (translated: 'Give young people a voice'). In this game, players took on the role of the Corona Minister and were tasked with managing the national strategy for handling the COVID-19 outbreak.

They had to make difficult decisions regarding how to balance economic, public health, privacy, and mental health outcomes. Players could earn a maximum of 5 stars for each outcome, but it wasn't possible to get 5 stars for all of them. Players had to decide whether to focus their policies on optimizing one outcome to get all five stars, at the expense of other outcomes, or to take a more balanced approach and maximize their total score across all outcomes. They also had to consider whether it was better to not restrict the civil rights of citizens, even if it came at the cost of their health. These were the types of decisions that players had to make in the game.

The Giv De Unge Ordet project explored collaboration and co-creation between scientists, professionals, and young people, particularly high school students, to govern and influence science communication and science communication products in relation to mental health, personal data, and technology use.

Corona Minister was developed to gain a better understanding of how games can act as conversation starters to educate young people about the tough decisions faced by policymakers during a pandemic. It also aimed to explore how young peeople experienced the initial COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020. Furthermore, the game served as a conversation starter among high school students to open discussions about their experiences, both positive and negative, during this lockdown.

• Play the game here.