Web Based Game – Psyche Trail
INSTITUTION
Cleveland State University (CSU)
CLASS
Tungsten Class (2023 – 2024)
STUDENT TEAM
ACADEMIC GUIDANCE
Dr. Sanchita Mal-Sarkar, Professor, CSU Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A common complaint that leads people to not pursue exploring new topics is that they find the process of learning the information to be too boring and exhaustive. This becomes a problem when organizations are trying to get the public engaged with a new idea or mission, but everyone assumes that all the information surrounding the concept is either too technical for them to read or would just be too boring for them to engage with. One of the ways the NASA Psyche mission is trying to overcome this hurdle is by exploring the concept of “edutainment” which is where information along with engagement is created through combining the learning process with enjoyable practices such as gaming. It is then our goal to take part in NASA’s dive into edutainment by creating a game that loosely simulates the mission and engages the player in some of the tense decisions that may have to be made during a mission by creating an environment with a strong emphasis on making decisions and bearing the consequences. Such a game would be unique in the NASA Psyche mission’s library as it would deviate away from games with strong fantasy elements and the repetitive trends that can be spotted in many of the preexisting gameplay loops. In addition, it is simple enough to be accessible across all standard networks and devices as well as to function well in a browser environment which gives us the largest reach possible to engage people in the NASA Psyche mission.