Teaching Cultural Heritage through a Narrative-based Game

Games are used in various learning situations and domains, among which is cultural heritage. Storytelling is used in games regarding cultural places, but it often takes a simple form. Thus, the authors’ aim is to investigate the possibility to communicate cultural content through a narrative-based game that can function with multiple narratives. Another core element of our design is the less exploited in serious games combination of endogenous cooperation and competition. The social dimension of our design was expressed through features of Classroom Multiplayer Presential Games (CMPGs), in respect of using a one-to-many game environment projected on a single screen, while enhancing collaborative work in small teams. After providing an overview of the game, we briefly explain how t his was implemented with the use of Twine, a free authoring tool for the creation of interactive stories and text-based games. Subsequently, we present the two interventions we conducted, one with teenage students ( n = 19) and one with post-graduate students ( n = 14), to test how our game design functions with real users. A mixed research methodology was followed in the two trials and data were collected through observation, focus group discussions, short questionnaires, and game reports. Findings indicated that the suggested design is playable but provided helpful insights into its future improvements. The game managed to engage both teenagers and adults with the cultural content and create motivation towards it. Learning gains were registered for both groups, but these were more appreciated by the adult participants, who additionally found the game to be more entertaining. The limited character of our results imposes the need for future extensive evaluation of the game design in both formal and non-formal educational contexts.