Project Overview

As part of an individual research project which served as a dissertation element of my degree, I investigated the uses and effectiveness of gamification in business and marketing. As part of this research project for development output, I explored the use of gamification techniques within an educational environment to teach young children mathematics in a fun and engaging way.

The idea behind the project "Lost Temple" was to immerse children in a narrative-based adventure role-playing game. The main objective was to help the player's character find their way back home by visiting multiple alien worlds and retrieving the necessary mechanism to power a portal. An audible AI assistance system was implemented to guide the player through this journey and provide. The intended purpose of the AI would dynamically assist the player with puzzles based on how much time they took to complete each task.

The puzzles within "Lost Temple" were designed to adapt to the player's ability and speed, ensuring a smooth user experience. The purpose of these puzzles served as a means to teach and test 6-8-year-olds children's mathematical skills. As the child progressed in the game, they would encounter more complex mathematical challenges to test their abilities.

Whenever a player got stuck at any point in the game, the AI assistant would provide help according to the required level of assistance. The project's primary focus was to create a scalable, procedurally generated puzzle system. However, due to time constraints, the AI assistance had to be simplified to static auditory navigation instead of a dynamic assistant.

Final Thoughts

If the project were to be expanded upon in the future, the critical area of improvement would be integrating AI assistance to aid the player through the increasing difficulty of puzzles dynamically. This way, the game could offer children an even more engaging and educational experience.