Labyrinth of Traps: Development and Evaluation of a 2D/3D Digital Game for Teaching Spatial Orientation
Resumo
This paper introduces Labyrinth of Traps, an educational game designed to support the teaching of spatial thinking and cartographic literacy through immersive gameplay. The artifact features six progressive levels that challenge students to transition from 2D allocentric perspectives to 3D egocentric environments with restricted visibility. The game integrates core navigation concepts, including GPS logic, compass orientation, map decoding, celestial navigation, and radar proximity. The research followed an empirical methodology, evaluating the tool with 31 participants through quantitative and qualitative measures. Descriptive results indicated high levels of engagement, with responses concentrated in the upper range of the Likert scale. Inferential analysis was conducted using the nonparametric Wilcoxon test to assess whether participants' evaluations were significantly greater than the neutral value. The results showed that key dimensions related to usability and learning were significantly above the baseline, indicating a consistent tendency toward agreement. Additionally, most participants reported increased confidence in using spatial orientation tools after interacting with the game. These findings indicate that participants perceived the proposed approach as useful for supporting the learning of spatial navigation concepts and reducing the abstraction typically associated with cartographic education.
Palavras-chave:
Spatial Thinking, Cartographic Literacy, Serious Games, Geographic Learning, Spatial Orientation
Referências
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Council, N. R. (2005). Learning to Think Spatially. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Garozi, P., Campano Junior, M., and Costa, Y. (2021). Labirinto gramágico: Um jogo educativo para o ensino de gramáticas regulares. In Anais Estendidos do Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames), pages 489–498. Sociedade Brasileira de Computação.
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Jo, I. and Bednarz, S. W. (2009). Evaluating geography textbook questions from a spatial perspective: Using concepts of space, tools of representation, and cognitive processes to evaluate spatiality. Journal of Geography, 108(1):4–13.
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Slattery, E. J., Butler, D., Marshall, K., Barrett, M., Hyland, N., O'Leary, M., and McAvinue, L. P. (2024). Effectiveness of a minecraft education intervention for improving spatial thinking in primary school children: A mixed methods two-level cluster randomised trial. Learning and Instruction, 94:102003.
Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age. Teachers College Press, New York.
Tuan, Y.-F. (2013). Espaço e Lugar: A Perspectiva da Experiência. EDUEL, Londrina.
Tversky, B. (1993). Cognitive maps, cognitive collages, and spatial mental models. In Frank, A. U. and Campari, I., editors, Spatial Information Theory: A Theoretical Basis for GIS (COSIT'93), volume 716 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 14–24, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer.
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Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., and Boyle, J. M. (2012). A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Computers & Education, 59(2):661–686.
Council, N. R. (2005). Learning to Think Spatially. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Garozi, P., Campano Junior, M., and Costa, Y. (2021). Labirinto gramágico: Um jogo educativo para o ensino de gramáticas regulares. In Anais Estendidos do Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames), pages 489–498. Sociedade Brasileira de Computação.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1):20–23.
Gibbons, J. D. (1993). Nonparametric statistics: An introduction, volume 9. Sage.
Hussain, F. (2018). Learn OpenGL: Beginner's guide to 3D rendering and game development with OpenGL and C++. Packt Publishing Ltd.
Hussain, S. and Khan, P. (2024). Enhancing spatial skills through immersive virtual reality: An empirical study on educational outcomes and cognitive engagement. Frontiers in Computational Spatial Intelligence, 2(3):124–132.
Innersloth (2018). Among us. [link]. Digital game. Accessed: 2026-04-10.
Ishikawa, T. (2016). Spatial thinking in geographic information science: Students' geospatial conceptions, map-based reasoning, and spatial visualization ability. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(1):76–95.
Jo, I. and Bednarz, S. W. (2009). Evaluating geography textbook questions from a spatial perspective: Using concepts of space, tools of representation, and cognitive processes to evaluate spatiality. Journal of Geography, 108(1):4–13.
McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Penguin.
Mojang Studios (2011). Minecraft. [link]. Digital game. Accessed: 2026-04-10.
Montello, D. R. (1993). Scale and multiple psychologies of space. In Spatial Information Theory: A Theoretical Basis for GIS (COSIT'93), volume 716 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 312–321. Springer.
Namco (1980). Pac-man. [link]. Digital game. Accessed: 2026-04-10.
Niantic (2016). Pokémon go. [link]. Digital game. Accessed: 2026-04-10.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5):1–6.
Rizzatti, M., Becker, E. L. S., and Cassol, R. (2021). Cartografia escolar e jogos eletrônicos: A alfabetização cartográfica para interpretação de mapas em games. Metodologias e Aprendizado, 4:241–248.
Slattery, E. J., Butler, D., Marshall, K., Barrett, M., Hyland, N., O'Leary, M., and McAvinue, L. P. (2024). Effectiveness of a minecraft education intervention for improving spatial thinking in primary school children: A mixed methods two-level cluster randomised trial. Learning and Instruction, 94:102003.
Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age. Teachers College Press, New York.
Tuan, Y.-F. (2013). Espaço e Lugar: A Perspectiva da Experiência. EDUEL, Londrina.
Tversky, B. (1993). Cognitive maps, cognitive collages, and spatial mental models. In Frank, A. U. and Campari, I., editors, Spatial Information Theory: A Theoretical Basis for GIS (COSIT'93), volume 716 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 14–24, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer.
Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., and Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: a meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2):352–402.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2007). A Formação Social da Mente: O Desenvolvimento dos Processos Psicológicos Superiores. Martins Fontes, São Paulo.
Yadollahi, E., Couto, M., Dillenbourg, P., and Paiva, A. (2022). Motivating children to practice perspective-taking through playing games with cozmo. In 2022 31st IEEE international conference on robot and human interactive communication (RO-MAN), pages 1482–1489. IEEE.
Publicado
05/10/2026
Como Citar
FERREIRA, Arthur A. B.; NUNES, Caio R.; MENDES, Luís F. de P.; DA CRUZ, André R..
Labyrinth of Traps: Development and Evaluation of a 2D/3D Digital Game for Teaching Spatial Orientation. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE INFORMÁTICA NA EDUCAÇÃO (SBIE), 37. , 2026, Goiânia/GO.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2026
.
p. 958-970.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbie.2026.27417.
