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From the perspective of Schank's Goal Based Scenarios framework, it is critical that players think with authentic tools and resources, confront challenges designed to elicit their failure, and gain detailed feedback so that they might debug their performances. Biohazard challenges the student by presenting irregularities in the course of events that occur in the gameplay. For example, in level one, if the player uses the spinal tap tool before using the opthalmoscope tool, they will inadvertently perfom a spinal tap on a patient with raised intracranial pressure, hence killing them. They will learn, from the 'Grim Reaper', that this mistake can be avoided by looking first for papilloedema, a sign of raised intracranial pressure. Next, the player fills out the death certificate and, in so doing, revises again what they have just learned about the brain, meninges and cerebrospinal fluid. In each level, there are several other details designed to seduce the player into triggering a failure state through false diagnosis or accidentally spreading disease. Consistent with good game design practice, clues are embedded in each level to tip the player to the need for avoiding the failure state. Placing players knee-deep in the role of trained medical professionals has the potential to be overwhelming. Given such a vast assortment of tools, which test should the player run? In Biohazard, we provide scaffolding for players by embedding information in the role of other doctors, patients, and medical technicians (e.g. Vgotsky, 1977). So, when a player encounters a patient, the nurse may suggest a treatment, the patient may give clues, a monitor alarm will sound, a senior doctor might suggest an alternative diagnosis, and / or the lab technicians will act puzzled if the player orders an inappropriate treatment. In later levels, the players will be given less scaffolding. Balancing how much information is too much and how much is not enough will be a critical component of play-testing. More thorough descriptions of how the gameplay unfolds are included in the walk-throughs.
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Biohazard
is pedagogically informed, primarily, by Roger Schank's 'Goal-Based Scenarios'
(1994). Emphasizing the benefits of experiential learning, Schank is a
leader in the field of artificial intelligence and multimedia-based interactive
learning. Schank argues that people learn through making mistakes rather
than by perfecting routines. Successful learning environments start not
with what content is to be "mastered," but rather by immersing
learners in authentic activities like those which experts in their fields
actually do. This approach to learning by doing (which is often described
as problem-based or case-based learning) is increasingly common in medical,
business, and law schools. With BioHazard, we are building on the design
history of Goal-Based Scenarios while adding in the story, interactivity,
and emotional draw of Role-Playing Games. 