Exploring digital games-based learning design for enhancing resilience in higher education students: unveiling the potential of RESSIL

This study explores the effectiveness and design value of ‘Resilience Education Supports Students in Life’ (RESSIL), an adventure-based digital game for developing resilience capacities in undergraduate students at one UK University. RESSIL was designed in response to the increasing wellbeing needs of undergraduate students and in recognition of resilience as a pivotal factor in student success. A purposeful pilot study approach is used to explore the User Experience (Ux) to gain insights into the effectiveness and value of RESSIL’s design and its potential to achieve its intended aim. Three focus group discussions engage undergraduate students (N = 9) from diverse academic backgrounds to explore their experiences of gameplay. Thematic analysis is paired with constant comparison to reveal RESSIL’s effectiveness and design value. The findings demonstrate how digital environments can create psychologically safe spaces for practicing adaptive capacities and bring attention to the relationship between emotion, motivation, and knowledge internalization. They affirm the significance of narrative-driven gameplay and multisensory engagement to cultivate meaningful Ux and emphasize the importance of balancing pedagogical content with game elements to ensure game coherence and utility. Insights gained from this pilot study affirm RESSIL’s effectiveness and value for bolstering student resilience; they provide evidence-based insights that will guide design decisions for subsequent versions and establish a foundation for a more comprehensive large-scale study.