Learners’ Gaming Experiences in the Issue-Based Board Game <Mosa Tayal>

An increasing number of game designers have begun incorporating contemporary social and environmental issues into their game designs, which has given rise to issue-based board games. These games involve mechanisms such as role-playing, resource allocation, and interest negotiation to immerse participants in contextualized learning experiences. Within socially interactive scenarios, learners are exposed to diverse perspectives, thereby cultivating empathy and historical thinking. By examining learners’ overall engagement and experiences with issue-based board games from their own perspectives, researchers can help address the challenge of balancing gaming enjoyment with historical learning. This study therefore employs a questionnaire to investigate learners’ gaming experiences following their participation in an issue-based board game. The results reveal a high level of overall engagement with the game mechanisms, with particularly strong ratings for interactivity and enjoyment—even when learners did not realize they were learning history. These findings indicate that the game effectively stimulates learning motivation and facilitates peer communication and collaboration.