Model-Driven representation of the Infrarium Serious Game

Abstract

Serious Games can be used for many purposes, including studying complex, socio-technical systems. They are claimed to provide new opportunities by bringing different knowledge and fields of expertise to the table. Combined with simulations that allow for observation of the evolving infrastructure under deeply uncertain conditions, they have the potential to be an effective research tool. An example of such a serious game is Infrarium - an adaptive cyber-physical game that addresses the challenge of collective decision-making toward emission neutrality in the energy transition process within the port. The enormous space of paths that players could follow and the complexity of interactions available raise the question of whether it is possible to create such an intervention method that would allow for steering the gameflow. This research addresses this question by introducing the concept of a Network of Puzzles based on which the Infrarium model is built. After concept evolution was done while searching for a suitable tool, the System Modelling Language (SysML) was chosen. The game was successfully represented in the conceptual model that captures the system's complexity sufficiently enough to provide the coherent structure of the game within which the clarity and traceability of connections provide a design space for future development as a tool for shaping the game flow. The results are presented in the form of SysML diagrams followed by a discussion about SysML as a supporting tool in model-driven game design, within which the possibility of further vertical elaboration with requirements and limitations is justified. We have proven that further development of the game elements should not jeopardize the existing functional level of the model. The SysML model in the presented form could be used to design an intervention method to shape players' experience during gameplay.