OceanQuest: A University-Based Serious Game Project

OceanQuest is a case study of a university-developed serious game designed to teach Grade 8 science concepts about hydrothermal vent ecosystems on the ocean floor, specifically the Endeavour field west of Vancouver Island. The authors argue that a serious game can satisfy both traditional game goals and educational goals, and they illustrate one approach to doing so. The project was developed under tight constraints: a small budget and a four-month schedule to deliver a web-based game by February 2004, which the authors present as a practical lens on the difficulties of combining instructional and entertainment design.

The design drew on a curriculum review that identified topics such as vent ecology, the relationship between depth and water pressure, buoyancy and ballast tanks, infrared temperature sensing, and sonar. Terrain was modeled from real ocean-floor data, and the central mechanic was a submarine scavenger hunt framed by a narrative in which players search for organisms that may contain a cure for a plague. Rather than delivering content through direct instruction, the authors intended that players would absorb the science implicitly while learning the mechanics, in line with how commercial games teach through play. Two versions were produced: a full 3D PC version and a Flash web version, the latter adopted partly because many schools restrict teachers from installing software.

A usability study with eight junior high students identified serious problems, including difficulty collecting items (a leftover from a robot-arm feature that budget constraints prevented), unclear goals, and an unclear radar and power display, several of which the team reports having addressed. The authors conclude that game design and instructional design must be defined together from the outset, that usability testing with target-group students is valuable, and that a multidisciplinary team with current production quality is essential for student engagement.