Lauren Breeding
Level Design
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Using Applied Cognitive Load and Difficulty Analysis for Educational
Game Design
I worked on the mobile game Codex: gameplay with those targets in mind. I
the XPRIZE Adult Literacy competition, literacy challenges, allowing the team to
The Lost Words of Atlantis as part of
which was targeted at finding a gamified
solution for teaching adults how to read
and providing support for Spanish-
implement new gameplay for increased
player skill retention and transfer.
speaking players. I worked on conveyance In building these challenges, I also
early in the project, and ultimately focused more practice with real-world problems
documentation and mastery guidelines
on replacing outdated gameplay sections
with new challenges that provided players
with real-life literacy challenges.
I applied research in difficulty curves
and pacing to cognitive load theory,
constructing a formal process for
iterative, data-informed design. Using
this process, I calculated the current
difficulty curve for the game, established
difficulty targets and educational goals
for specific sections, and created new
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populated a complete database of new
LEVEL DESIGN
responded to player feedback requesting
like reading bus schedules or medicine
dosage.
In total, I worked on Codex: The Lost
Words of Atlantis for seven months, and
specifically focused on difficulty curve
research and analysis for four months.