Phosob: A Game-Based Learning Board Game Inspired by the Lanna Rice Goddess

Abstract

The Lanna Kingdom of northern Thailand is renowned for its distinctive culture, traditions, and beliefs, many of which are closely connected to rice cultivation. Transferring this cultural knowledge to younger generations is important for preserving local heritage and promoting understanding of its cultural and spiritual significance. This study presents the design, development, and evaluation of Phosob, an educational board game inspired by Mae Phosop, the Rice Goddess in Thai folklore, and designed with a Lanna retro theme. The game integrates cultural storytelling, four rice varieties, resource management, and strategic gameplay to support learning about Lanna rice culture and related beliefs. A design-based approach was adopted to guide the iterative development and evaluation of the game. The prototype supports two to four players and was evaluated with 36 undergraduate students aged 17–24 years, organised into nine playtesting groups. Participants played three consecutive rounds before evaluating the game. The evaluation covered three dimensions: Design and Aesthetics, Game Capability, and Learning and Cultural Promotion, using a five-point Likert scale and open-ended feedback. Results showed positive player perceptions of the core gameplay experience, with all Game Capability items receiving more than 80% positive responses and game uniqueness receiving 86.49%. Perceived educational and cultural value was also high, particularly for promoting awareness of Lanna rice (96%) and supporting learning about rice (100%). However, Design and Aesthetics received comparatively moderate ratings, and player feedback identified issues concerning visual differentiation, component complexity, gameplay balance, and reliance on random mechanisms. These findings suggest that Phosob has potential as a game-based learning tool for communicating Lanna rice culture while identifying areas for further design refinement. As the present evaluation focused on player perceptions rather than on objective knowledge gain, future work will employ pre- and post-test assessments with larger, more diverse samples. A digital version will also be explored to broaden accessibility and educational impact.