About

Altersteilzeit – Film & Game is a small, free and non-commercial project by Thorsten Meyer. It turns the dates of a German partial-retirement arrangement into a short animated film and a 3D game.

What it does

In the block model of Altersteilzeit (partial retirement under the German Altersteilzeitgesetz), people keep working for a number of years (the active phase) and are then released from work for the same length of time (the passive phase). Enter the start of either phase and the model (1:1 to 5:5), and the film and the game show how much time has passed, how much is left and how many working days remain until the passive phase begins.

Why it exists

Counting down the last working years is more fun when you can watch it or play it. Every year of the active phase becomes a level: a run along the harbour, week by week, or a maze through the open-plan office.

Privacy by design

Everything is calculated in your browser. There are no accounts, no cookies, no analytics and no advertising, and the dates you enter never reach us. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

Credits

• 3D engine: three.js (MIT licence).
• Player character: the Xbot model from Mixamo (Adobe), as distributed with the three.js examples.
• Night view of Berlin in the office maze: panorama from Poly Haven (CC0).
• Typefaces: Archivo, Instrument Sans, Fraunces and IBM Plex Mono (SIL Open Font License), served from this website.

Who runs it

Thorsten Meyer, Iffeldorf, Germany. Feedback, bug reports and ideas are welcome: contact@thorstenmeyerai.com.

Last updated: 28 September 2026