Enhancing Cybersecurity Learning with In-Game Feedback

This study examines whether enriched in-game feedback and a player statboard can improve cybersecurity education, using an educational game called TXG Version 2 that teaches Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) to second-year computer science students. Building on an earlier version, the game adds confirmatory, explanatory, affirming, reflective, and personalised feedback types, along with a statboard that tracks player performance. The authors position this combination as a response to a gap in cybersecurity education research, drawing on prior evidence that immediate explanatory feedback supports novice learners. The design is grounded in learning theories including self-regulated learning, deliberate practice, and Kolb's experiential learning cycle.

Evaluation rests on feedback from two game-based learning experts, a deliberately small sample that the authors acknowledge as a key limitation. Reviewers judged the feedback plentiful, useful, and promising for motivation, and found the personalised feedback and statboard effective for engagement and self-reflection. However, they reported that the feedback can feel overwhelming, is difficult to read, and that personalised messages come across as generic. Suggested improvements include separating personalised feedback into a concluding summary and refining the interface. The statboard was seen as especially valuable for supporting less skilled players.

Overall, the findings are preliminary and largely qualitative, with no independent learner outcome data presented. The evidence base is drawn primarily from cited literature on cybersecurity awareness, multi-role simulations, instructional support in game-based learning, and self-regulated learning. The authors conclude that the game format could serve as a foundation for a broader educational game development framework once interface design and feedback quality are improved.