Pilot Snapshot: Rebuilding Lives – Finding a Place in the Sun

What’s new?
We’re working on submitting our first full manuscript—co-authored by Micki Archuleta (Modesto JC / Dolphin Voyager) and Christine Kay Oakley (WSU / Palouse Alliance)—to JMIR Serious Games. While it undergoes peer review, here’s a brief, non-technical look at the classroom pilot.

Why we tested

We wanted to know whether a short, story-driven game could (a) keep junior college players engaged and (b) nudge their understanding of Housing First solutions to homelessness.

Who played

  • 28 students, 7-week course
  • Windows or Mac version of the prototype (4 scenes + Canvas modules)

Early signals

  • Engagement: Average 4.1 / 5 on our in-game engagement scale (3 full survey responders).
  • Empathy: All open-ended comments described a shift from “individual fault” to “system failure” views.
  • Knowledge: A small (4 %) uptick on a single Housing First item—encouraging but not yet significant.
  • Wishlist: Students asked for “rewind” checkpoints to replay key decisions.

What’s next

  • Expand the post-game survey inside the game to boost completion.
  • Add a 5-item Housing First quiz and checkpoint “rewind” feature.
  • Run a larger study (≥100 players) once the next build is ready.

📝 Status note: These findings are preliminary and have not yet been peer-reviewed. We’re sharing them for transparency; please avoid formal citation until the journal article is published. JMIR permits such brief web summaries as long as the submitted work is fully disclosed to the editors and later links back to the final paper.JMIR Serious Games

Check back soon for the full open-access article link or preprint DOI!