Abstract
Collaborative games prompt players to work together, communicating, coordinating, and assisting each other; such features make them suitable for learning purposes. Although several suggestions have been made to design serious collaborative games, the RPGs’ social interactions have not yet been explored in the context of science learning. This study evaluated a multiplayer game that integrates chemistry content in the gameplay mechanics of adventure games and RPGs. Twelve game testers participated in the evaluation process, constructing five groups: two groups of three persons and three groups of two. The players downloaded and installed the game on their computers, and then they played it. The results from the qualitative data confirmed that the clearly defined rules system facilitated teamwork through constant coordination and communication, making playing a pleasant experience. In addition, each player progressed his/her character through individual activities, promoting active collaboration in the missions’ accomplishment. Thus, the social character of RPGs has the potential to support the design of collaborative learning settings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dillenbourg, P.: What do you mean by collaborative learning? In: Dillenbourg, P. (ed.) Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches, pp. 1–19. Elsevier, Oxford (1999)
Wendel, V., Konert, J.: Multiplayer Serious Games. In: Dörner, R., Göbel, S., Effelsberg, W., Wiemeyer, J. (eds.) Serious Games, pp. 211–241. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40612-1_8
Hitchens, M., Drachen, A.: The many faces of role-playing games. Int. J. Role-playing 1(1), 3–21 (2009)
Garneli, V., Patiniotis, K., Chorianopoulos, K.: Designing multiplayer serious games with science content. Multimodal Technol. Interaction 5(3), 8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5030008
Garneli, V., Patiniotis, K., Chorianopoulos, K.: Game mechanics of a character progression multiplayer role-playing game with science content. In: Marfisi-Schottman, I., Bellotti, F., Hamon, L., Klemke, R. (eds.) GALA 2020. LNCS, vol. 12517, pp. 415–420. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63464-3_40
SAIR: A Multiplayer Chemistry Game. https://www.notion.so/SAIR-A-Chemistry-Multiplayer-Game-bf4a108cc89440349e20658e54a0e6b9. Accessed 17 July 2021
Sánchez-Mena, A., Martí-Parreño, J.: Teachers acceptance of educational video games: a comprehensive literature review. J. e-Learning Knowl. Soc. 13(2) (2017)
Zagal, J.P., Rick, J., Hsi, I.: Collaborative games: lessons learned from board games. Simul. Gaming 37(1), 24–40 (2006)
Wendel, V., Gutjahr, M., Göbel, S., Steinmetz, R.: Designing collaborative multiplayer serious games. Educ. Inf. Technol. 18(2), 287–308 (2013)
Costikyan, G.: Where stories end and games begin. Game Dev. 7(9), 44–53 (2000)
Gymnasiou, C.B.: http://ebooks.edu.gr/ebooks/v/html/8547/2206/Chimeia_B-Gymnasiou_html-empl/. Accessed 17 July 2021
RPG MAKER MV. https://www.rpgmakerweb.com/products/rpg-maker-mv. Accessed 17 July 2021
Hsieh, H.F., Shannon, S.E.: Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual. Health Res. 15(9), 1277–1288 (2005)
Gee, J.P.: What Video Games have to teach us about Learning and Literacy, 1st edn. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (2003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Garneli, V., Chorianopoulos, K. (2021). Employing Social Interactions of Multiplayer Role-Playing Games in a Serious Game. In: de Rosa, F., Marfisi Schottman, I., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Bellotti, F., Dondio, P., Romero, M. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13134. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-92181-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-92182-8
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)