Sigismund II

The diary of an 18th century Dutch aristocrat, by the name of Sigismund van Heiden Reinestein, is the starting point for the educational adventure in the basement of the monumental building of the Archive of the province of Drenthe (in Dutch: Drents Archief).

Sigismund has been around since 2006 in developing a successful project of the 'Drents Archief'. Children aged 10-12 years play an exciting game where they get acquainted with the archive. In 2015, Waag brought the technology up-to-date and expanded the game with the ability to make it available for other target groups, like adults and adolescents. In a further update in 2018, the software was made ready to use to space as an escape room experience for the first class of secondary education.

The children get pulled in by an exciting story and have to protect an important private collection against all kinds of dangers like dampness, fire, and ink corrosion. And solve the mystery of Sigismund along the way... The concept of an adventure game is used to create a learning environment in which the private records of Sigismund are naturally embedded.

The narrative structure gives information on the archive, its role and its collection a logical and appealing context, thus creating stimulating ground for learning. Waag earlier created the concept of this game, did the interior design of the spaces (with partners) and developed the technology behind the whole project.