A lively, web-based 2D RPG that teaches and assesses philosophical perspective-taking through interactive, dynamically-branching dialogue.
EOS-503 is a free, publicly available browser-based roleplaying game designed to help teacher education programs compare their students’ application of instructional practices, technology integration skills, and visionary leadership with traditional evaluation measures like exams and portfolios. Developed by and for teachers, all interactions between the player and non-player characters (NPCs) are bona fide representations of the thinking and action employed by real-world educators in real-world teaching and learning environments. This approach is particularly effective for humanities content—philosophy, history, education—where designers can help the player “think like a philosopher,” “think like a historian,” or “think like a teacher.”
Players are tasked with persuading the game’s NPCs to change their points of view, first by identifying specific cognitive theories at the heart of an NPC’s worldview, then by deciding which dialogue options have the highest probability of successfully influencing a given NPC’s thinking. Unlike multiple-choice tests or essays, EOS-503 leverages responsive roleplaying elements and branching plotlines to bring learning theory to life—every conversation incorporates multiple philosophies to be explored, and every player choice branches into dozens of potential story outcomes.
The game’s narrative unfolds in the year 21XX with players serving as new recruits in the Department for Analyzing Terrestrial Activities (DATA). DATA Agents, sometimes called “Fixers,” are EOS-503’s premier problem solvers who travel between the titular spaceship’s problem-plagued communities to foster peace and prosperity. In accordance with their mission, players must settle a long-standing conflict between local leaders by convincing them to co-manage a rapidly growing Neutral faction. The full plot fuses science fiction elements with realistic use cases that reflect circumstances and challenges present in actual educational environments.
Since 2021, the game has been exhibited at regional events (e.g., Connecticut Festival of Indie Games, Frontiers in Playful Learning Conference), shared with voting rights organizations (e.g., Vote Save America, ACLU, Fair Fight Action, League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote), and debuted across multiple university teacher preparation programs. It will soon be deployed as the foundation for a 2023-2024 game-based education study, and production has already begun on a sequel game concerning administrative decision-making among technology specialists.
