We created the Keep calm! – Patience Bottles interactive application for the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest (Néprajzi Múzeum). Designed to run on a museum touchscreen and also available online, the project invites visitors into the fascinating world of patience bottles—intricate miniature scenes built inside narrow-necked glass bottles. These objects are a celebration of craftsmanship, perseverance, and the ability to overcome seemingly impossible technical constraints.

The educational concept is built around a simple but powerful idea: patience can be learned—and experienced. In the wake of the Covid–19 period, when many of us were forced to practise patience in everyday life, the application deliberately encourages slowing down, focusing attention, and engaging in “fine-tuned” concentration. Users can explore the stories and types of patience bottles preserved in the Museum of Ethnography’s collection, and—through the interactive part—test their own persistence in the digital space as well.

The gameplay is based on a purposely “annoyingly” precise, patience-demanding puzzle logic: the composition must be assembled through a narrow bottle opening, in a way that can’t be rushed. In keeping with the museum narrative, multiple thematic visual worlds appear (for example, preserving the museum’s former building as a patience bottle, as well as scenes composed from collection objects), while the visual language combines photo-based realism with graphic layers. The program was originally featured during the Autumn Festival period with a 14+ target audience, but the experience also works well for families and adult visitors today.

In 2022, Keep calm! – Patience Bottles received the ICOM Hungary Special Prize for Museum Education, presented at the 20th National Museum Education Opening Event—an important recognition that the digital game is not only engaging, but also delivers genuine educational and cultural value.

Online version: https://turelemuveg.neprajz.hu/