Metycoon: A game-based approach to career guidance

Understanding the relationship between immediate decisions and long-term career prospects is a vital skill in a job market which is becoming increasingly globalised, competitive and dynamic. The application of digital technologies and multimedia to career-guidance offers the potential to go beyond the confines of the classroom and provide a depth of insight into career decisions and their consequences in interactive and engaging forms. This paper reports on an approach which uses a serious game as an approach to career guidance incorporating game-based elements such as character development and decision-making alongside a visual and user-centric approach to fostering engagement. Deployed online and targeted evaluation questionnaires at a UK audience, the developed 'MeTycoon' game provides both direct access to learners and other resources encouraging its use in blended contexts by teachers and career support professionals. Analysis of the game uptake and user engagement reveal encouraging levels of user engagement with the game's website generating 38,097 visits and 408,247 views of career videos embedded within the game. An online survey of players (n=91) with closed and semi-structured questions provides some insight into players' perspective, demonstrating MeTycoon's approach, in which pedagogic elements such as informational videos are closely integrated into the game's mechanics were perceived as an intuitive method for facilitating learning.