Rashi 2D

Rashi 2D is a game about medical diagnosis and problem solving. Players take on the role of a doctor and work to examine virtual patients. The game begins with a cursory description of the patient's symptoms, after which, the player must wander the hospital, interview the patient, run lab tests, and perform the necessary checks in order to successfully identify the patient's illness.

While there are a number of branches in Rashi's development, Rashi 2D works specifically to incorporate game-like elements into the environment, in the hopes of encouraging a more engaged learning experience.

The game was designed as an educational tool to help teach students about effective ways of approaching problems and finding solutions in an often ill-defined problem space.

Technologies Used

Java

Development Context

Rashi 2D is one of many branches in a much larger system designed to help students learn and apply effective methods of inquiry and problem solving techniques. Its development spans many years, and reaches across multiple universities. Through the Game Design Research Group at the University of Virginia, I joined a small team working on one section of the larger project.

My Role

I worked on the programming and design, creating a variety of the game systems and scenes that appear in Rashi 2D, including a dummy email system (and corresponding scene), a time system, and the front end of a group chat scene.

Related Works

Dragon, T., Floryan, M., Wilkins, G., and Sparks, T. “Efficiency vs. Immersion: Design Trade-offs for an Exploratory Learning Environment”. ITS Workshop on Exploratory Learning Environments. Zagreb, Croatia (2016). PDF