Juan Piece, a Mobile Puzzle Game about Philippine Geography: its Effects on Students' Problem Solving Skills

Abstract

The study endeavored to develop a 2D infinite runner - puzzle game, called Juan Piece, in order to identify its effects to the respondents' problem-solving skills and to their Philippine geography appreciation as well. The game was deployed to Android smartphones and tablets. The researchers wanted to know if puzzle games like Juan Piece can improve one's problem-solving skills. Paired t-tests and chi-square tests of independence were used to analyze and interpret the data gathered from the respondents. The said tests, all at a 5% level of significance, revealed that 1) there is no significant difference between the problem-solving skills of the respondents before and after playing, 2) game puzzle interest (i.e. whether the respondents play puzzle games or not prior to the study) is independent from respondents' problem-solving skills before and after playing Juan Piece, and 3) there is a significant difference between the respondents' Philippine Geography appreciation before and after playing the game.