International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies – ISSN: 1865-7923 – Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v12i8.9260 Muhammad Hafis(*), Ahmad Afif Supianto Brawijaya University Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia akhiahmadhafis@gmail.com Abstract—This research focuses on the design of a mobile application game that uses endless run method to learn chemistry concept of chemical bonds, its design is analyzed thoroughly. Application-based learning is one of the method of learning that has been proven to be effective, however, previous studies fo- cuses on the elements of serious gaming that neglects the fun elements in the game itself, disdaining the nature of a game. This research aims to expose and elaborate the idea of learning chemical bonds by using mobile game approach with an addition of data gathered from players for learning and analysis purpose. The functional analysis for the game design are also stated to reinforce the idea validity. Keywords—application-based learning, chemical bonds, educational games. 1 Introduction Currently the field of application-based learning is one of the emerging fields of study in the domain of mobile application development specifically in game-based mo- bile applications [1]. Application-based approach can be used as a proper approach for educational purpose as the aforementioned approach has shown a significant positive effects on learning, the amount of time spent playing educational games scales linearly with student’s attitude towards learning [2], in term of the device used, games devel- oped on mobile devices shows more flexibility and potency as a field of research and development [3]. One of the field of science that can be improved by using the mobile game approach is high school chemistry subjects [4] due to the difficulty from the students to under- stand the concept conventionally and lack of interest by the student to explore the sub- ject in details. [5], another reason is due to the level of illustration required by the stu- dent to visualize the concept and interactions between objects in chemistry requires some level of abstraction, mobile application-based approach are able to provide a rel- evant level of user experience while also provide a proper interactions required for such needs [6]. In the high school subject of chemistry, one of the earliest chapter learned that require a high level of abstraction is the concept of chemical bonds, where the relationship between two or more chemical elements forming a compound is learned. 104 http://www.i-jim.org Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach The approach of using mobile games to teach chemistry has been done in several ways and for several subjects [7], [8], [9]. However the recent works uses the concept of serious games which focuses on the effectiveness of the game itself while neglecting the fun element of the game itself, removing the very essence of the nature of a game itself. This research suggests an approach of a mobile game that uses endless-run concept to convey the fun element due to this type of game has shown a relatively high level of fun while also engage the player with a challenging content [10]. The concept of end- less-run itself is a form of game where the player controls a main character that runs in an environment endlessly until a certain condition is reached [11]. 2 Theoretical Background The concept of game-based learning being used to improve student’s comprehension on a particular subject has been proven to be relevant, either in form of mobile applica- tions, or traditional method such as board games [12] or card games [13]. The rigid and abstract but structured nature of the subject of chemistry is one of the main reason why game-based approach is a relevant method to be implemented by using a mobile device, as it is able to improve interactivity and visualization due to the nature of mobile device, furthermore, game-based approach on mobile device also known to be able to improve student’s passion towards learning in general [14]. In game-based approach, several concepts of game design can be implemented to be able to integrate with the field of chemical bonds, the concept of collectibles is intro- duced and implemented, an action of a character controlled by a player to collect items inside the game for a certain amount to be used for a certain goal, either to finish a mission, gather more advanced objects, or get in-game points [15]. The concept of ob- ject visualization on chemical bonds field is used to improve the traditional method of card and pictures which is proven to give a positive impact towards student’s under- standing [16], [17] by using a mobile device which has far better capability in delivering dynamic objects compared to conventional approaches. The chemical bond concepts are visualized directly by creating an in-game object to represent such chemical elements, along with collectible concept, the chemical ele- ments can be collected and gathered with a certain mission to be given to the player as an engaging element of the game. In-game missions are crucial for the player as it gives the player a reason to finish a certain action and acts as a scenario that drives player’s motivation to play the game despite of the theme, giving the player a chance to think about a strategy to finish such given mission, this approach is compatible with the educational strategy that guides the student to understand a concept by using a mind map [18]. By using the combinatory approach, a gameplay can be created by using the endless- run concept, a combinatory approach that mends together several concepts is created, driven with an endless-run game format. Chemical compounds are formed with a cer- tain combination of several chemical elements, chemical elements can be used as col- lectibles while chemical compounds are used as a mission, the number of chemical iJIM ‒ Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 105 Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach elements in a certain chemical compound formula are set as a goal and the method of gathering is driven in form of endless-run game. The objects are then visualized on a mobile device in form of a mobile game. Data log is one of the additional aspect in game design that allows the developer to learn and elicit information from the player and learn their behavior to create multiple analysis and improvements [19]. As an additional aspect, it is not compulsory, but in- stead allow the game to be developed and change based on player’s activity, creating a better improvements overtime. The data log also promotes data analysis for educational purpose and convenience [20] which allows the developers to create visualizations and learn hidden aspects of player behavior such as trap states and players tendency to fail or misunderstood a particular game mechanics. 3 Design 3.1 Design Concept Based on the background problem and theoretical background domain of problem, a design concept is proposed by using bottom-up approach that puts the foundation on controls rather than the actual big picture itself as depicted on Fig. 1, starting from character controls, to game mechanics, to feature and contents, and a story to convey such setup into a relevant concept of a game. Fig. 1. Bottom Up Process of Game Design Control and mechanics of the game are designed to ease player’s achieving a partic- ular task, the control proposed on this design concept is the ability to jump. In term of accessibility, the user’s control is by tapping the bottom half of the screen. Endless run 106 http://www.i-jim.org Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach games tend to have simple controls to promote intuitiveness and ease the amount of time spent on learning to minimum, making it suitable for all type of users. Game mechanics are the rules set by the game to limit and control player’s action, as such, the cause-effect relationship and consequence of how the in-game world works are defined to match the concept of endless run games. The proposed game mechanics puts the main character to be controlled by the player by tapping the screen of the mo- bile device and the control is limited to only jumping. The action done by the player inherently and automatically is defined as running on a horizontal space from left to right, the jumping action is defined to be a parabola movement done by the player from one point to another while the scene is moving on a repeated pattern – showing as if it is an actual endless scene. Another form of action done by the player is collecting items which happens when player collides with an in-game object of collectible elements. Collectibles are defined as chemical elements scattered on the scene of the game and is meant to be collected by the character as a defining action of the game missions and is procedurally randomly generated throughout the scene. Mission is given by the game in form of chemical compound names (but not its chemical name), designed to be the objective of the player during the game commences, the number of chemical elements gathered are also set based on the chemical compound on a particular playthrough. Obstacles are defined as objects that obstructs the movement of the character con- trolled by the player, there are two types of obstacles, static and dynamic, which static obstacles halts the player movements while the latter stops the game immediately. The main feature of the game as it incorporates the fun elements of a game in contrast to existing serious games, giving it a novelty in term of approach, by using the concept of object visualization, the elements and its relationship with other elements can be represented properly, giving the player an idea of how chemical elements may interact with each other. The context of the game is set to control the mechanics of the game, proposed con- text focused highly on the concept of the chemical bonds in this game and how the collectible and mission interacts with each other. The main context sets that the col- lected elements may be gathered as many as the player wants but the compound given also changes dynamically as the player gathered too much of a particular element. As an example, a compound given as a mission is water (Chemical name: H2O) which requires 2 Hydrogen elements and 1 Oxygen elements, as the player collects the ele- ments during its playthrough, once the player gathered 2 Hydrogen elements, the player can end the game easily by collecting 1 Oxygen atoms, but unsuspecting player can accidentally or unknowingly collects an extra Hydrogen element, thus making the amount of elements gathered to be too much, the game context controls this by doubling the amount of mission chemical compound into 2 H2O, which results in the player to get another Hydrogen element while adding an extra Oxygen, making a grand total of 2 Oxygen elements. This goes on as the player collects to much of a single element, thus creating the player to develop a strategy of skipping Hydrogen elements once the element gathered is enough and focuses the Oxygen elements more. Fig. 2 shows a tabular form of the collectible and mission relationship game mechanics. iJIM ‒ Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 107 Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach Fig. 2. Game Mechanic Tabular Form On the data log analysis, the log keeps tracks of the elements gathered by the player and how the mission changes, such that the game analysis would focus on the trap states of how the player learn what elements should be gathered and how much such element would be gathered. The same log data also will be able to analyze the tendency of fail- ure, whether it is because of the game missions, or the spawn rate of a particular ele- ments is too disproportionate, or the core game mechanics that is too hard to be played. 3.2 Use Case Diagram The use case diagram is used to show the degree of freedom that the player has the control upon playing the game. The player is able to start the game and then proceeds to choose the level, view the leaderboard or exit the game. 108 http://www.i-jim.org Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach Fig. 3. Use Case Diagram 3.3 Gameplay Design The main flow of the gameplay is designed to be linear, goal-driven, and interrupti- ble by obstacles, the gameplay common example is depicted in the following pseudo- code on fig 4. The game starts by initializing game scene, scores, and objects, the positioning and objects changes based on the level chosen by the player, the mission is also adjusted by the level chosen. If the player hits an obstacle, the game ends and calculate whether the high score is reached or not. If the player collects an element, it is compared and if the amount exceeds the mission elements, the mission elements is doubled. If all ele- ments gathered reach the mission, the game ends and calculate the score and opens the next level. Fig. 4. Pseudocode of Common Gameplay. egin Initialize: level set, currentScore, highScore, scene; Choose level; Initialize Mission.level, element.n_amount, ele- .n+1_amount; While (player state = alive) score++; If (player hit obstacles) End game; Compare currentScore and highScore; End If For j = 1 to n (where n is the total number of different elements) If (element.j_current > element.j_amount) iJIM ‒ Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 109 Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach 4 Analysis 4.1 Functional Analysis Functional analysis is done by using black box method by testing whether the game can run well or not. The analysis set is depicted on table 1. Table 1. Example table No. Components Expected Result 1. Play button The player is able access the play button to start the game. 2. Leaderboard button The player is able to access the leaderboard button. 3. Choose level button The player is able to choose level to play. 4. Pause button The player is able to pause the game during gameplay. 5. Resume button The player is able to resume the game after being paused. 6. Return button The player is able to return to the main menu during gameplay. 7. Jump button The player is able to jump by pressing the bottom half of the screen. 5 Future Works Future works of this study will focus on the design and development while also fo- cuses on the analysis of the result of aforementioned gameplay while improving the details of the game itself. 6 References [1] M. Qian and K. R. Clark, "Game-based Learning and 21st century skills: A review of recent research," Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 63, pp. 50-58, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.chb.2016.05.023 [2] J. Hamari, D. J. Shernoff, E. Rowe, B. Coller, J. Asbell-Clarke and T. 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Nagapan, J.J. Guajardo, R. Cooper, T. Solbergm D. Greenwalt, "What drives people: Creating engagement profiles of players from game log data," in Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, London, United Kingdom, 2015. iJIM ‒ Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 111 Short Paper—Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach [20] D. Kerr, G.K. Chung, "Identifying key features of student performance in educational video games and simulations through cluster analysis," Journal of Educational Data Mining, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 144-182, 2012. 7 Authors Muhammad Hafis is a master student of the Faculty of Computer Science Brawi- jaya University, Malang, which takes the multimedia, games, and mobile focus. Ahmad Afif Supianto is a lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science Brawijaya University, Malang, for the field of multimedia, games, and mobile focus. Article submitted 22 July 2018. Final acceptance 13 October 2018. Final version published as submitted by the authors. 112 http://www.i-jim.org iJIM – Vol. 12, No. 8, 2018 Mobile Game Design for Learning Chemical Bonds with Endless Run Approach