Designing an Educational Point-and-Click Adventure Game About Cognitive Flexibility

Abstract

Being an executive function, cognitive flexibility is one of the skills that allows a person to accomplish tasks, specifically the ability to change mental states. Proper executive function is essential in a society centered on work and productivity, especially with the increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to design and develop a point-and-click adventure video game that teaches players about the role and nature of cognitive flexibility, and to measure its effectiveness. Most people don’t understand that one’s surroundings and mental state can affect productivity and executive functioning, and instead it is stigmatized. By understanding the role that cognitive flexibility plays in everyday life, people can better understand their own capabilities and limits. The game is designed first by analyzing how cognitive flexibility is trained in childhood and adolescence, then enforced in adulthood. Certain concepts of cognitive flexibility are directly mapped to mechanics in the game, and puzzles are used to lead players to understand the applications of cognitive flexibility. The game will be playtested to measure whether participants gained any new insights after playing. They will also be given the option to be interviewed two weeks after to measure whether the techniques had any impact on their lives after the initial playtest. To illustrate points of interest, a player’s mouse click activity while playing will be tracked. This highlights which puzzles the players struggled with and how they approached them, and can identify what aspects of the game’s design were effective in relaying information.