An Escape Room Game for Learning Digital Electronics in Vocational Education and Training (VET)

Abstract

For a plethora of individuals, video games are part of their daily lives, entertaining and inspiring them. The application of gamification in the education sector in the form of Game-Based Learning (GBL) can increase the amount of acquired knowledge on a specific subject since it brings the elements of engagement and amusement in education. In this paper, we present the creation of a first-person puzzle game which aims to teach the user the basics of logic gates and circuits as learning models implemented in Vocational Education and Training (VET). The gameplay scenario resembles closely the concept of escape rooms, viz. a “prison” that requires the players to solve riddles in order to break free. To do that, the users must operate switchboards that are comprised of logic gates and button switches and are connected to other unlockable elements, such as a door or a drawer, which unlock with the right combination of inputs and/or logic gates and keys that unlock the panels of the switchboards. With a variety of levels, the players are given many opportunities for improvement while using their past knowledge to progress further. The level of each player can be tracked and saved in a personal account. Overall, the goal of this GBL experience is to make the basics of electronics easy to understand without relying on common teaching methods.