As part of my ongoing study and development in game-based research, I was speaking to someone who pointed me to the Secret Service website, where I quickly found this interesting quiz: https://www.sis.gov.uk/careers/roles/intelligence-officer/test-your-skills/test-your-skills-%28flash%29.html
This quiz reminded me quite a lot of the T.E.S.S.A. Undercover Agents ResearchGame we created for IMPRINTS Futures, where a similar undercover agent narrative and characterization was used.
The purpose of the quiz:
In this M16 game, you’re given a fake profile as a different person and the quiz questions test your memory of the facts you would have been given at the beginning about the new character you are being. While this platform calls itself a test, or a quiz, we know from study that these can exist within the confines of a game, and this game has a clear goal: to answer the questions as accurately as possible but, the rule being, no cheating (and yes, I did think of taking a screenshot of the undercover story but I’m not that kind of game-player!).
This game uses very basic graphics; all 2D images, and some of these are of 3D environments. Sound effects are used to allow players to be more immersed in the narrative, making it more of a reality, just as traditional games do this. The fonts used have a relation to the graphics and the overall story, so for instance you will see that the question about money is written in a similar font that ATMs use. The interactivity is basic: this is no Call Of Duty game-play and graphics, showing us once again that ResearchGames can be simple and effective, but using simple graphics and a narrative to support the questions being asked. And that in itself is a crucial thing to note here: questions were being asked in this M16 quiz. Just as we ask questions in our surveys. The difference with this, as with all ResearchGames, is that there is the inclusion of narrative, sound effects, graphics which relate to the narrative (and in turn the narrative relates to the questions being asked.) So take a look at the quiz for yourself as inspiration for your own game-based research. I scored an 8, so my memory is clearly a lot better than I thought (and maybe I can have a new career as an undercover agent!)
– Betty