On Call, the Emergency Department Training Game from UMass
On Call is a multiplayer game in which medical and nursing students run an emergency department together. It won Best in Show at the Serious Games and Virtual Environments Showcase in January 2013, and no page offering it for play was found in November 2026.
Updated
What On Call is
On Call simulates an emergency department. Medical and nursing students each take a role on the care team and work through patients in a fast-paced setting, assessing, evaluating and treating them while they balance time, efficiency and resources. The game is multiplayer and asynchronous, and it borrows the mechanics of social network games. The stated aim is to train communication and quick thinking among emergency personnel.
The University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI) and Becker College developed it. Students from Becker College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Springfield College, Mt. Holyoke College and Berklee College of Music built it during MassDiGI's 2012 Summer Innovation Program in Worcester, with support from medical school experts and game industry professionals. MassDiGI's own pages from that period say 18 students from nine colleges and universities took part in the program.
The 2013 award
On Call was voted Best in Show at the Serious Games and Virtual Environments Showcase of the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare, held January 26 to 30, 2013, at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Orlando, Florida. MassDiGI's site records the result as well. At the time the partners planned a closed beta test the following semester and said they would pursue commercialization once they had more data.
What is true today
MassDiGI is still active in November 2026. Its site describes it as the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute at WPI, established in 2011 and based in Worcester, and it announces a 2026 Summer Innovation Program. Searching that site still returns posts from 2012 and 2013 about On Call, including a note that On Call and a second project, Energy Drive, would be available for closed beta or play soon.
No page offering On Call for play was found, and no page says it was released or retired. Two other addresses tied to the project lead nowhere: the Becker College web address no longer leads to a site, and the medical school's news page about the award is gone. The game is listed as unconfirmed.
The institute's program list includes the Summer Innovation Program, a Game Challenge and mentoring, and a demo night for the 2026 summer program was set for July 29, 2026, in Worcester.
Questions about On Call
What award did On Call win?
It won Best in Show at the Serious Games and Virtual Environments Showcase at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in Orlando in January 2013.
Who built On Call?
Students from six colleges built it in MassDiGI's 2012 Summer Innovation Program, working with UMass Medical School experts and game industry professionals. Becker College hosted the program.
Can On Call be played now?
No page offering it was found in November 2026. MassDiGI's older posts mention a planned closed beta, but nothing confirms a release.