Effects of Different Game Mechanics on 2D Location Learning in a Serious Game

Serious games teach players skills or knowledge applicable outside the game, but the choice of game mechanics may influence the underlying perceptual, memory, and cognitive processes involved, potentially affecting quality of learning. We developed two serious games that both have the goal of teaching the locations of important commands in a simple 2D grid UI, but that have different game mechanics (a sequence-based mechanic that could interfere with location memory for individual items, and a restricted visual search mechanic that could promote intentional learning). In our study, participants played the games and periodically completed memory tests where they were required to recall the icon locations which had been taught in the game. Although the sequence-based mechanic led to reduced completion times and differences on subjective measures compared to the restricted visual search mechanic, we found few differences on the memory tests, suggesting that game mechanic may not have had as large an effect on learning as other factors.