Semantris

This is an interactive detective game where you and your student explore a detailed city map to solve the crime and find the suspect. It’s perfect for intermediate and advanced levels, encouraging observation, storytelling, and speaking practice.

💡Skills Practiced: Speaking fluency, storytelling, giving directions, present continuous, vocabulary for everyday life and city scenes

⏱️Time Estimate: 15–25 minutes

🕹️How to Play:

For this game, you’ll need to use an external resource and share your screen with your student.

1) Go to https://webapp.micromacro-game.com/democase/en/democase.html

2) You will see a short guide on how to play the game:

🔍* To search Crime City for the answers, drag the map. Zoom with the buttons or pinch/use your mouse wheel.*

• 👆🏻 If you think you've found the right answer, just click on the place in the scene.*
• ❕This is a criminal case. To solve it you need evidence, not just speculation.*

3) To see the current task, click on the card with the question mark in the bottom right corner of the screen.

4) Follow the prompts together and discuss the clues as you go. Ask your student to explain what they see, describe what might be happening, and justify their ideas. If you are struggling, you can find the answers here.

Extend learning after solving the case

Once the mystery is solved, the map can be used for various speaking activities:

• Giving Directions: Choose two buildings on different sides of the map. Ask the student to explain a route from one to the other using “go straight,” “turn left/right,” “next to,” etc.
• Storytelling & Character Description: Zoom into any area and ask the student to describe what is happening. Who are the characters? What are they doing? What do they look like? Encourage them to create a background story for the characters.
• Present Continuous Practice: Ask students to describe ongoing actions (“The man is painting a wall,” “The kids are playing in the park”).
• Speculate & Predict: Ask questions like “Why do you think this character is here?” or “What might happen next in this scene?”
• Vocabulary Focus: Focus on city life, professions, crimes, or objects in the scenes. You can challenge students to include new words in their descriptions.