Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Natural Historythrough Game Based Learning

Abstract

Indonesia is a country consisting of thousands of island. With many islands in Indonesia then there are many cultures of various ethnic groups scattered across Indonesia. With the cultural diversity that exist in Indonesia, then the existing culture must be preserved because the culture is a very important element in representing the personality of a country. There is a tendency that Indonesian young generation do not recognize their cultures. "Desa Maya Budaya Indonesia" (DayaBaya) : Virtual Village with Indonesian Culture - is a game developed to introduce Indonesian culture to young generation. This game simulates a virtual village located in a region in Indonesia that can be developed according to the player’s desires and wishes. The simulation will help young generation to know various cultures of Indonesia at the early stage. This game has also been tested on 48 students from Vocational High School,and a result from this experiment shows that the game improves user’s knowledge about cultures.