Introducing the Visitor Design Pattern through a Digital Serious RPG Game: Brazil

Relics of Chaos serves as a serious role-playing game designed to mitigate the cognitive challenges software engineering students face when learning the Visitor design pattern. By embedding instructional objectives—ranging from conceptual identification to practical code application—directly into the game’s narrative and mechanics, the project seeks to provide a more effective alternative to traditional pedagogical methods. The primary thesis posits that gamified learning environments can significantly enhance the mastery of complex architectural patterns by scaffolding technical content within an interactive, engaging framework.

The efficacy of this approach is supported by a pre-test and post-test validation protocol involving 14 students in Brazil. Participants demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their understanding of the Visitor pattern, with average exam scores rising from 5.0 to 8.0 compared to cohorts taught through conventional instruction. The assessment, which utilized a ten-question instrument covering structural diagrams, implementation steps, and code application, confirmed that the game successfully facilitates both theoretical comprehension and practical execution.

Despite these positive outcomes, the study acknowledges limitations inherent in the current scope. The 50-minute gameplay window and the small sample size constrained the depth of the learning experience and the full utilization of game mechanics. While the findings indicate that serious games are a viable tool for teaching complex software engineering concepts, future development will focus on expanding the game’s complexity and validating these results across larger, more diverse student populations. These refinements aim to address identified gaps in difficulty and ensure a more robust educational experience that can be scaled beyond the initial pilot phase.