Development of a 3D Immersive Game for Games and Systems Requirements Capture

This study presents the design and development of "Cubicle Conundrums: Quest for Clarity," a 3D immersive serious game built in Unreal Engine 5 to teach requirements elicitation, a skill that is abstract and frequently underdeveloped among computing graduates. The authors' central argument is that serious games can effectively address this gap, and they position their work against a notable scarcity of requirements-elicitation games produced since 2011, following a body of prior literature that found most such games dated from 2003 to 2011.

The game's design centres on ten office-based scenarios, such as hazard identification, stakeholder interviews, prioritisation, and conflict resolution, with each scenario built around specific learning outcomes and non-player character interactions. The project is supported by a serious games development model, a Blueprint and UMG dialogue system, and a design document covering setting, characters, controls, and user interface. Industry representatives who viewed the game at a May 2023 showcase praised its level design and attention to detail, and the project is now in final development ahead of planned evaluation in serious games and computer games development courses.

The authors conclude that serious games have matured sufficiently to function as effective educational tools, but they are explicit that empirical validation remains outstanding. The effectiveness of immersion and case-study integration has yet to be tested, and subject matter expert evaluation is planned but unreported. As a result, the contribution is primarily a design and development account rather than a demonstration of learning gains.

The theoretical grounding draws on literature in reflective practice in design, role-playing in the design process, game-based learning in requirements engineering, requirements elicitation techniques, and educational curriculum design. Together these sources frame the project as an intersection of pedagogical theory and applied game development, with the study's value resting on its documented design approach and its potential as a foundation for future evaluation.