Building Bridges: A Collaborative Pipeline for Educational Game Creation

Abstract

This paper introduces a collaborative participatory design pipeline that connects subject‑matter experts (SMEs), game designers, students, and educators to co‑create classroom‑feasible educational games. We demonstrate this process through DIETER (DIgital EducaTional Escape Room), a modular Educational Escape Room (EER) composed of short, tablet‑ready mini‑games designed to foster STEM competencies in upper secondary education. These types of games are particularly well-suited because students have to work together, learning becomes interactive, and they connect academic concepts with practical challenges. We began by collecting data on students’ gaming behaviour and hardware preferences to provide a basis for realistic design decisions for school contexts. In parallel, a group of SMEs (lecturers at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien) identified STEM topics suitable for game‑based learning and, in co‑design workshops, translated priority topics into actionable mini‑game concepts including constraints and learning outcomes. These design prompts were then handed to game design students in the bachelor’s program in computer science as authentic briefs across two courses, encouraging creativity while maintaining curricular alignment. The students carried out the game design and production process and iterated prototypes under real‑world constraints. As part of the participatory process, we also conducted a full‑day workshop with our partner school (Hertha Firnberg Schools for Business and Tourism, upper secondary level). During this session, students were introduced to the basics of game development and engaged in creative ideation activities such as brainstorming and the collective notebook method. These activities generated additional mini‑game ideas and provided deeper insights into students’ interests, expectations, and play preferences, helping to design age-appropriate and engaging educational game concepts. To validate classroom practicality and pedagogical usefulness, we conducted validation workshops with lecturers at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien. In these sessions, participants playtested the resulting prototypes and collaboratively refined gameplay, scaffolding, and reflection prompts — focusing on feasibility (time, setup, group work), fit with lesson phases, and the requirements for meaningful reflection and knowledge transfer.