Increasing STEM Career Interest in Middle Schoolers Through a Health-Themed Serious Game

The U.S. continues to face a shortage of students entering Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers, including healthcare professions. Developing and strengthening a pipeline of programs, starting as early as middle school, to engage students in STEM and explore future STEM careers leading into higher education is a critical need. Game-based learning offers a promising approach to spark interest in STEM fields, especially when classroom access to careers or real-world contexts is limited. One solution is the use of a well-designed, online, scalable serious game that empowers students to explore different health science careers otherwise inaccessible to typical middle schoolers. This study examines the educational impact of End of Imperial, a serious online medical mystery game that allows students to roleplay as police detectives solving a fatal crash while collaborating with science and healthcare professionals. During gameplay, students identify clues and solve challenges across multiple settings, from the crash site to the hospital and beyond. Middle school students from three distinct school environments—urban public, urban charter, and suburban public—played the game and completed a post-survey capturing changes in STEM career interest and health-related behaviors. Data collection used a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) to measure impressions immediately after gameplay. "Interest" was a measure of interest in health and science careers; "learning" measured self-perceived learning gains. Results across all locations showed a significant increase in health and science career interest. Students not only enjoyed the game but also reported substantial learning gains and increased confidence in science. In addition, students’ awareness of healthy sleep habits, a key theme in the mystery, was increased. The game’s community-based character representation, realistic narrative, and immersive roleplay contributed to engagement and learning. Findings suggest that serious games can positively influence middle school learners’ attitudes toward STEM careers and personal health decisions when designed with authenticity and social relevance in mind. Overall, results indicated that the interactive game was well-received, playable across diverse communities, and strongly increased students’ interest in STEM careers.