Narrative and Content Combine in a Learning Game for Virtual Heritage

We find the "game" paradigm an efficient and familiar way for students to interact with virtual heritage content (3D models, etc.) and with the supporting information. The student/player works though the interactive narrative, striving towards goals which matter in the context of the content itself. The rewards and challenges must be part of the content, and not some visual sugar or meaningless allocation of “points” for the experience to be effective. Accordingly, Gates of Horus is a virtual heritage learning game based on an ancient Egyptian temple. The student learns from a virtual priest, who also challenges the student to demonstrate knowledge. The student’s reward is entry into successively deeper and more mysterious parts of the temple. Several categories in a knowledge post-test demonstrated that Gates of Horus is an effective learning tool (p < 0.0016, p < 0.0044, and p ≈ 0).