Education Profchecks now available as a police app Written on Friday, July 4, 2025 How can we make learning fun? One way is to use serious games. This was the thinking behind ‘Profchecks’: interactive games developed by the Netherlands Police Academy to help police employees refresh and test their legal knowledge. And now these games are also available as a mobile app. Serious games A serious game is a game that is not primarily intended for entertainment, but for a serious purpose – like stimulating learning, raising awareness, or communicating a message. The new app is user-friendly. A single game takes just ten minutes to play. It simulates an incident, and you can choose a theme, use the various helplines available, and enjoy the attractive, modern design. Best of all, thanks to the app, you can play a Profcheck game whenever and wherever you want. Users really wanted an app The team developed the mobile version because so many police employees said they would prefer to practise on their phone. Giny Verschoor, product owner of Profchecks at the Police Academy: ‘We’re very proud of our collaboration with the Mobile Team. And of the fact that Profchecks are now available as an app. This is a real milestone for the Police Academy.’ Extra gaming elements will shortly be added to the app. You’ll be able to earn badges, for instance, answer the question of the day, and/or issue a challenge to colleagues. And new learning elements will also be added. So you will be fed the information in small, digestible portions. That will help police employees refresh their knowledge on the go, even when work is busy. Ready for the new Code of Criminal Procedure The Profchecks are developed by the Police Academy in collaboration with professionals in the field, for various jobs and topics. And there are also Profchecks in the pipeline for the new Code of Criminal Procedure. ‘Profchecks will help people get up to speed on the new legislation’, says Giny. ‘Learning should be fun, especially where legal knowledge is concerned. As Profchecks show, gamification – adding game elements in education – can put the fun back into learning.’ ‘We always listen to feedback and ideas and are constantly developing our products’, Giny adds. So if you have questions or suggestions and/or want to think along with us in developing Profchecks, please send an email to Giny Verschoor.