Designing Educational Games using the RPG genre:
Student-Gamer Involvement and RPG Affordances
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Student-Gamer Involvement and RPG Affordances
 Role Playing Games (RPG)
 Student – Gamer Involvement
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
How can we use the motivational elements of
video games to educate?
 Educational games so far
 Fun with a bit of educational content
thrown in
 Educational tool with fun bolted on
 Lacks the essence of what motivates
one to play games in the first place
 Fails to harness the potential
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Characteristics of an RPG
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Open World / Non linear / Quest Based
Explore / Discover (Locations)
Interactions (NPC & Environment)
Storyline :Narrative / Dialogues / Books
Music /Aesthetics / Graphics
Verisimilitude
Challenge / Flow
Fairness / Rules / Goals
Achievements / Rewards
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
The Student Research Group (Sep 2011 –
Ongoing)
 The Participants
• 15 students from a 1st year BTEC Game
Design course (Media)
• Key Skills working together class
 The Tasks (Groups of 2-4)
• 3 quests
• Expansion of main storyline
 Starting Point (Weogorna Civitas)
• Basic world developed and in place
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
What is Weogorna Civitas?
 A role playing educational game (RPG)
• Total Conversion of an existing game
Oblivion Elder Scrolls
• Open World
• Quest Based
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Quests
 Main Quest and Sub – Quests
 Retrieve
 Rescue
 Solve
 Aims, Objectives and Feedback
 Fairness (and Consistency)
 Achievement
 Reward
 Challenge
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Cat on Fire Quest: Strange Happenings
 Initial Design
 Storyboard and script
 Design and Development Phase
 AbbiChris Village
 Quest
 Prototype
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Cat on Fire Quest : Strange Happenings
Strange
happenings
in
AbbiChris
Village
Talk
to
Skye
in
the
Cat
on
Fire
Inn
Get
the
elemental
ring
to
get
to
Earth
Rescue
the Arch
heir
and
receive
your
reward
Find
the
scientist
Getpuzzles
from
Cathedral
Talk
toinformation
the
tothe
find
out
more
Solve
and Mage
negotiate
the
dungeons
Storyboard By Abigail Evans for Cat on Fire
Cat on Fire
Prototype Phase
Jan -Apr 2012
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price
Ethics
 Ethical issues
 Internal Validity and Causal Effects
• Bias and subjectivity
• Vested interest in the results
• Other Ethical considerations
• What students may come up with
Sherry O'Sullivan & Dr. Colin Price