Mandarin Murder Mystery
Overview
This VR game helps beginning Chinese learners gain a modular understanding of Chinese characters through storytelling. Players solve a murder mystery as they unlock clues by performing different tasks. Using the Tilt Brush VR app and the HTC Vive and Oculus headset, players advance the story by learning, manipulating, reusing, and writing Chinese characters.
Tools used
Tilt Brush
Gravity Sketch
Poly
Blocks
Problem and Solution
The SME, a Chinese instructor at Occidental College, reached out to me because he wanted to rethink the way that Chinese characters were traditionally taught to beginners. Rather than requiring learners to memorize characters stroke-by-stroke, the SME wanted to make this process more efficient and less daunting to learners by deconstructing and manipulating the radicals (i.e. the components of the characters) instead. That is, he wanted learners to interact with the characters as if they were moving blocks to create new words.
Following an embodied cognition approach, I knew VR was the perfect tool to encourage a modular understanding of Chinese characters. That’s why my solution was to combine the power of gamification and storytelling in an immersive environment.
Process
The SME and I met at least once a week for content development and check-ins. Using backwards design, we first set our pedagogical goals. Next, I identified the evidence that would indicate learner success, and designed the learning experiences that players were going to perform. Finally, we brainstormed ideas for the narrative based on how they would address our goals.
Development
When creating tasks, I made sure there was enough repetition, scaffolding, and formative assessment. For example, in the first level, we wanted players to identify a new radical (both its written form and meaning). To do that, we presented the target radical next to its equivalent object or image. Then we provided a list of 4 radicals, including the target. Players had to select the target radical and match it with the radical of the same shape.
To confirm that players were paying attention to the meaning of the radical, I made them match the radicals to the objects a second time, without the help of its written form. If players weren't successful, they would get oral feedback from the narrator and repeat the task. The design process was iterative, and tasks became increasingly complex in the higher levels.
Prototype
Once we had the tasks and the script written, I designed and created the environment using Tilt Brush. I created some assets using Blocks by Google and Gravity Sketch, and imported others from Poly Google. With iterative input from the SME, I created 10 levels in total.
Testing and Production
Advanced language learners tested the game and provided feedback. The project was then deployed in one beginner Chinese class for two consecutive semesters (5 levels per semester). Players reported that the experience enhanced their learning of Chinese characters and increased their motivation.
After the remarkable success of this learning experience, I took the initiative to form a dedicated team of skilled developers. Together, we brought the concept to life by building the game in Unity. The 10 levels served as a solid foundation and prototype for the development process.
By leveraging the power and versatility of Unity, we harnessed its extensive features and tools to create an immersive and engaging gaming experience. Unity's flexibility allows us to incorporate various interactive elements, captivating visuals, and seamless gameplay mechanics. You can see the demo for level 2 below.
Level 2 - Mandarin Murder Mystery