Covid-19 Survivor : Design and Evaluation of a Game to Improve Students’ Experience During Social Isolation

Abstract

In socio-economic crises, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, it is crucial to enhance children’s understanding of the new situation and their choices to protect their physical and mental health. In this paper, we discuss the design of a serious choice-driven simulation game, called “Covid-19 Survivor”, as a means to empower students’ awareness of pandemic risks and consequences through decision making and system analysis. The online game simulates the daily routine of a school student through a system of available choices and consequences to five game fields. We qualitatively evaluated the game in a classroom setting with twenty-six 13 years old students and one IT teacher. The preliminary results demonstrate its potential to influence students’ perceptions and knowledge about the pandemic as well as to enhance their decision-making and systems thinking skills.