A narrative storyline provides the sense of progression needed to keep users engaged and invested in the game. Early research consisted of a proxy user observation during which one team member with limited video game experience played Paper Mario: The Original King (See Appendix J: User Observations). This observation highlighted the importance of a clear sense of progression, as she felt frustrated by the lack of instruction and plot development. This observation was supported by research into aspects of a successful video game. In his paper Good Video Games and Good Learning, James Paul Gee found that “new information on a need to know basis” was a necessity to keep players invested in a video game [3]. Similarly, users playing the demo version of the game expressed a desire for more story-telling elements. The final design incorporates an increasingly complex narrative story that results in a fluid reveal of information and sustained user engagement. The plot of the game also allows for the seamless incorporation of chemistry vocabulary in a manner that remains natural and consistent with the rest of the gameplay.

The aesthetic design and user interface of ChemQuest was dictated by the project requirements of accessibility and user engagement. The visual appeal of the game was carefully crafted to immediately attract attention from users through the use of creative and interesting characters and enemies, as well as a bright color palette. In user testing (See Appendix B: RPG Mockup User Testing), the design received unanimously positive feedback on in-game aesthetics. This positive view was also held by groups outside the target age range, as the art-style of the game was also praised by peers during a design review session (See Appendix K: Design Review Summary).

In addition, the overall format of the game enables the design to be accessible to a variety of users. Role-playing games encourage players to see themselves reflected through their chosen character, and our design includes a wide variety of gender presentations and skin tones among the selectable characters in order to ensure player representation. All of the selectable characters are visually distinct in monochromatic and red-green filters, which allows color-blind and visually impaired users to interact with the design. Finally, the game incorporates a variety of design patterns from AbleGamers Charity, which is a non-profit organization aimed at creating more accessible games. By incorporating features such as captions, easily customizable sound controls, and the ability to manipulate text features like size and contrast, the game has built in avenues to ensure accessibility to users from a variety of different backgrounds and abilities.

The turn-based battle system allows for a gradual increase in difficulty in gameplay, and a system through which chemistry content can be naturally incorporated. As discovered through research and proxy user observation, a video game must have a natural increase in difficulty in order to keep users engaged. In the beginning, the game includes clear instructions and tips to guide users to victory. Early success engages users and encourages them to keep playing in pursuit of similar success. As the user advances through the game, the battles gradually become more difficult and require more advanced weapons and strategies to win, which gives players a sense of progression, keeping them engaged with the game. As our goal is to subconsciously increase the player's familiarity with chemistry (See Appendix C: Project Definition), the player is more likely to continue learning and engaging with the game if the player feels they are achieving something.

In addition, the turn-based battle system easily incorporates chemistry content. The player battles a variety of chemistry enemies, which may include acids, salts, and other basic molecules. These enemies introduce the names and provide accompanying pictorial depictions of various substances, which increases user familiarity with common elements and molecules. For some enemies, such as cations, the pictorial depiction is a pun on the name of the substance. The pictorial depictions can also subtly impart information about a substance's molecular shape. For example, the cyanide fish pictured in Figure 7 incorporates the triple bond that connects carbon and nitrogen in a cyanide molecule. Similarly, the water molecule in Figure 7 has the classic bent, mickey-mouse shape created by the two lone pairs present in an actual water atom. Although ChemQuest does not offer a direct explanation, the game provides cute, interesting pictorial representations that users can subconsciously internalize and later remember when they learn about molecular structure in their chemistry classes.

The battling system also provides a natural introduction to periodic groups and their properties. Each playable character represents one of the eight periodic groups, and the character can only use elements and molecules as weapons if they belong to their respective periodic group. Atoms with larger atomic radii (i.e. moving down a periodic group) have stronger attack ratings and can be organically obtained as the player advances through the game. Atoms can also be bonded together at the Blacksmith's Shop (see interactive world section below) to create stronger weapons and introduce users to basic ionic and covalent bonding principles.

Each playable character has a special category of attack options called periodic skills. These skills are distinct to each character class and arise directly from the properties of their respective groups. For example, the alkali metal character has three skills: Sharpen, Release Electron, and Add Water. Sharpen draws upon the malleability of alkali metal to increase the attack of a weapon. Add Water results in a powerful attack that corresponds to the explosive reaction that occurs when alkali metals come in contact with water. Finally, Release Electron can be used only once to increase both the attack and defense of the character. This last skill corresponds to the increased stability of an alkali metal atom upon releasing one electron to obtain a full octet.

Ultimately, the RPG battle system encourages players to learn and implement chemistry knowledge to win battles. The gameplay will remain fun and intuitive while improving the users’ overall familiarity with basic concepts and vocabulary. Additional instructions for equipping items and battling can be found in Appendix L: Instructions for Use- Gameplay.

The inn, market, and alchemist all add more complex components to the game to create a fuller, more robust game experience. Although younger users might not use all of the in-game features, older users or players with more gaming experience will be able to enjoy advanced components like health items and escape items. The alchemist and library serve to flesh out the narrative aspect of the game, which was a feature requested by both direct users in testing and peers during the design review session (See Appendix K: Design Review Summary).

Finally, the blacksmith and the library also provide opportunities to implement direct chemistry learning (See Appendix K: Design Review Summary). As the game is meant to encourage students to seek out further chemistry information, the library provides an easily accessible source of supplemental chemistry explanation. The library can also be highlighted by science teachers as required in-game reading for their students. Finally, the blacksmith introduces the player to basic bonding systems, such as the formation of ionic and covalent bonds. The use of molecules as weapons are needed to win later battles within the game, and thus require players to gain a basic understanding of bonding.