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Educational Storytelling Games for Low-Resource Classrooms

Educational Storytelling Games are puzzle-based cooperative games that students have to work together to solve, which have stemmed from the popular trend of Escape Rooms. However, these games often require significant amount of resources. 

The mEducation challenged Dr. Scott Nicholson, who worked as our Escape Games for Education Strategic Advisor from September 2021 to June 2022, to see if he could develop an educational storytelling game for low-resource classrooms where the only thing available was a chalkboard. In response, he has developed the Escape Interactive Fiction (EscapeIF) game system! This game “system” will allow a teacher to develop and run escape games that require nothing but a chalkboard in a classroom, and once created, the games will require very little preparation time to run.

In 2023, we were thrilled to continue to work with Scott and his students on EscapeIF now that he is back as Professor of Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada.

What is EscapeIF?

Check out the video to your left to let Scott explain!

Got Your Own EscapeIF Game?

After you’ve viewed this and worked through the materials below, feel free to submit your game here!

Submit Your Own Games Here

EscapeIF: Math Game Storytelling Workshop Recap

On June 16, 2022, the mEducation Alliance hosted a virtual workshop for educators about using story-based math games in the classroom with Dr. Scott Nicholson.

Scott worked with volunteer Aishwarya Shetty from Education Above All (serving the role of a classroom teacher) and a passionate group of other webinar attendees to use the EscapeIF framework to create a new game-based storyline using a specific skill identified in the Global Proficiency Framework for Mathematics.

Don’t Be So Negative! teaches math operations with negative and positive numbers.

Read the article and watch the video to join this EscapeIF mystery story, where players use their math skills to investigate the company “Footlock” who has been employing robots to manipulate social media metrics without the user’s consent. 

You can watch the video of the workshop or read a full recap article HERE. 

Get Started with EscapeIF

EscapeIF Games

Sample Online Game – Experience EscapeIF as a student

Sample EscapeIF Game Script: Perimiter Problems – Combination script and tutorial

EscapeIF System Overview – Basics of the EscapeIF System

EscapeIF Creation Guide – In-depth guide for teachers and students creating EscapeIF games

Make Your Own EscapeIF Games!

EscapeIF Creation Guide – In-depth guide for teachers and students creating EscapeIF games

EscapeIF Design Worksheets – A series of worksheets to help you think through your EscapeIF game design

EscapeIF Design Tutorial (Shorter) – Comprehensive video presentation on making a EscapeIF narrative educational game

EscapeIF Design Tutorial (Full, with worked example game) – Comprehensive video presentation on making a EscapeIF narrative educational game

EscapeIF Advanced – Add more freedom to your EscapeIF games with a more open-ended EscapeIF system

All of these EscapeIF projects are in the Creative Commons! You can keep up with the EscapeIF project through Facebook or contact Scott Nicholson at [email protected]

Tourist Transport (Scott Nicholson and Janene Depalo) – Grades 2-4; addition and subtraction of numbers and time

Perimeter Problems (Scott Nicholson) – Grades 4-6; perimeter and area

Hungry Hungry Dinos (Scott Nicholson and Derek Gallacher) – Grades 5-7; fraction math

Just an Average Day (Scott Nicholson and Eric Mukarage) – Grades 8-10; mean, median, mode, outliers

EscapeIF Game Repository – Hosted by the mEducation Alliance

EscapeIF Beta Games

Want to help us improve? Try these games and send feedback to [email protected]

Sunny Days Ahead (Tilak Vyas, Alex Kulenkamp and Scott Nicholson) – Chance and Percentages (Twine version)

Mud Pie Bakery (Alex Kulenkamp, Tilak Vyas, and Scott Nicholson) – Fractions (Twine version)

Fishy Fun (Alex Kulenkamp, Tilak Vyas, and Scott Nicholson) – Ratios (Twine version)

Time for Treats (Tilak Vyas, Alex Kulenkamp and Scott Nicholson) – Time Calculations and Scheduling (Twine version)

All of these EscapeIF projects are in the Creative Commons! You can keep up with the EscapeIF project through Facebook or contact us at [email protected].

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The Mobiles for Education (mEducation) Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on the evidence-driven and sustainable role of technology in education to advance quality educational outcomes. Initially formed in 2010, the mEducation Alliance is a unique, multi-stakeholder convening platform for government and donor policymakers, other investors, researchers, and practitioners to work together, particularly in lower-resource, developing country contexts. For more information about the Alliance, including about our signature activities, visit the organization web page. Read Full Disclosure and Policy Statement Here

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Jax Chaudhry

Jax Chaudhry leads Project Invent, a national nonprofit that empowers youth with future ready mindsets for individual success and global impact, through invention. Originally from the Southside of Chicago, Jax loves working with students, families and partners to ensure every student can attain success as they define it. For more than 10 years, she has worked with elementary schools, high schools, education nonprofits and led regional teams and operations to ensure student success.

Michael Leventhal

Kenneth Y T Lim operates at the intersection of neuroergonomics, the learning scienceMichael Leventhal is co-founder of RobotsMali, a pedagogical and AI4D laboratory and STEM education center in Bamako, Mali. RobotsMali has trained thousands of students from elementary school to high school in computer science, robotics, and artificial intelligence, coached national robotics teams that have won 32 medals in international competitions, and developed technologies using AI and robotics for the social and economic development of Mali. Before becoming an educator in Mali, Michael worked as a technologist in Silicon Valley.s, and cognitive psychology. In 2023, he and his team were identified by UNESCO to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, in the session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’.

Enouce Ndeche

Enouce Ndeche is the founder and Director of Vijana Amani Pamoja ,VAP a community scheme based in Nairobi Kenya that uses the power and the popularity of the game of soccer/football as a catalyst for social, educational and economic empowerment.Enouce holds a degree in sociology from Egerton university and he is also the 2020 individual award recipient “Diversity and Inclusion Eminent Leader Award Enouce is also a certified Sports Philanthropy and Executive, George Washington University and is a 2023 Gratitude Network fellow.

Kenneth Y T Lim

Kenneth Y T Lim operates at the intersection of neuroergonomics, the learning sciences, and cognitive psychology. In 2023, he and his team were identified by UNESCO to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, in the session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’.