Energy Systems Engineering and Education: A Serious Game for Literacy

Abstract

Energy literacy requires understanding how electricity systems operate under conditions of variability, resource constraints, and environmental trade-offs. This paper presents Primary Energy, a data-driven serious game designed to support systems-based reasoning in energy education. The game uses authentic hourly renewable energy production data to create 24 sequential missions in which players must balance electricity demand while managing carbon emissions, land-use constraints, and energy storage limitations.Developed within a design-based research framework, the game was implemented in Unity and incorporates real-world renewable variability from the Portuguese electricity system. Unlike many educational energy games that rely on simplified representations, Primary Energy exposes learners to the operational challenges associated with renewable integration and electricity balancing through constrained decision-making and multi-objective trade-offs. A preliminary classroom deployment involving 31 students aged 12–18 years examined usability, engagement, and emergent decision-making behaviours. Observations and participant feedback suggest that learners were able to engage with system constraints, adapt strategies in response to changing renewable availability, and reflect on environmental impacts associated with different energy sources. While learning outcomes were not formally assessed, the results indicate that the platform is technically viable and pedagogically promising. The paper contributes the design and initial classroom evaluation of a serious game that supports systems-based reasoning and energy literacy through authentic energy-system dynamics.