Endogen: Framework for Designing Endogenous Educational Games

Endogen is a design framework for educational games in which game mechanics emerge directly from educational content rather than being attached to it afterward. Built on strategies identified in an earlier think-aloud study and structured through the function-behavior-structure approach, the framework takes the form of a radial process board with 32 steps and supporting strategy cards. It moves through iterative stages of content exploration, divergent and convergent ideation, translation into mechanics, elaboration, and verification, and is intended to guide novice designers toward endogenous design. Its central aim is to provide systematic structure for extracting, translating, and integrating educational content into gameplay while preserving creative freedom.

The framework was evaluated across three complementary studies: a comparative study against a placebo framework with ten participants, a workshop with four educational technology PhD students, and a week-long longitudinal study with four participants. Ratings and qualitative analysis indicated that Endogen outperformed the placebo on step-level guidance, learning opportunities, facilitation of endogenous design, and suitability for non-designers. The placebo performed better on ease of use and flexibility, and idea generation emerged as a persistent weakness of the framework.

The validation carries clear limitations that the authors acknowledge. Sample sizes were small, the content addressed only middle-school subjects, and validation occurred at the concept level rather than through functioning prototypes. The framework also focuses exclusively on content, leaving explicit pedagogic strategies unaddressed. Taken together, these findings position Endogen as a source of essential ingredients for educational game design rather than a guarantee of outcomes, with designers remaining responsible for shaping those elements into an effective game.