NetGuardians: Lightweight and Interactive Serious Game for Cybersecurity Education

NetGuardians serves as a specialized educational intervention designed to enhance cybersecurity literacy among high school students aged 15 to 18. By utilizing a narrative-driven, visual novel format, the project addresses critical digital vulnerabilities, including phishing, password management, and the risks associated with public Wi-Fi. The core thesis posits that integrating interactive storytelling with real-time feedback mechanisms significantly improves student engagement and fosters the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate real-world digital threats.

Developed through the Game Development Life Cycle methodology, the platform emphasizes accessibility and pedagogical relevance. Qualitative evaluations, conducted through semi-structured interviews with 25 participants, indicate that the game successfully bridges the gap between theoretical security concepts and practical application. The findings suggest that the combination of case studies and interactive quizzes creates a compelling learning environment that resonates with the target demographic, effectively transforming abstract security protocols into relatable digital behaviors.

While the current iteration demonstrates clear potential as a lightweight educational tool, the scope remains focused on foundational awareness. Future development aims to broaden the curriculum to encompass more sophisticated cybersecurity threats and transition toward large-scale quantitative research. By tailoring game design to specific learner types and audience needs, this approach establishes a scalable framework for cybersecurity education that can be refined through ongoing empirical validation and iterative content expansion.