OPUS: an Alternate Reality Game to learn SQL at university

The project aims to test the effectiveness of applying the principles of experiential learning within a university course. In particular, the objective of the paper is to investigate the educational effectiveness of the Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and of their characterizing elements: the immersive storytelling, which blends reality and fiction, and the collaborative approach, which activates collective intelligence dynamics. The project combines the concepts of a Database course with the transmedial interaction techniques of a Transmedia course. The idea was to stimulate the interest of Databases course’s students in this subject and help them learn and consolidate SQL. The result was the creation of a playful experience that is classified as Alternate Reality Game, a realistic and highly immersive interactive storytelling, set in a likely fictional universe where the basic rule is “This is not a game”. The ARG was designed to complement the laboratory practice in the context of a Databases university course. In this way, students can practice, review and consolidate the skills acquired during the course. Furthermore, the playful component is accompanied by on-demand educational content, which players have the opportunity to request when they experience difficulties in solving puzzles that require querying the database.