Board Game Quest Ideation
Categories: CSP Blogs FlaskBoard Game Quest
Overview
Board Game Quest turns education into a game. Each square on the virtual board represents a learning module. Players start at "Go" and advance by completing challenges and mastering concepts. Flask backend tracks all progress persistently.
Option 1: Snakes & Ladders
Classic board where concepts unlock sequentially:
Ladders skip ahead on excellence | Snakes review fundamentals
Option 2: Chess Board
8x8 grid with strategic paths through 64 concepts:
Navigate 64 concepts | Each row = new skill tier
Core Features
Progressive Unlocking
- Sequential module progression with database-tracked checkpoints
- Resume from last position in any session
- Visual feedback on completed, current, and locked content
Interactive Modules
- Bite-sized lessons with quizzes and instant feedback
- Animated board celebrating progress milestones
- Self-contained topics for focused learning sessions
Future Enhancements
Multiplayer & Social
Compete head-to-head, join guilds (up to 20 players), share progress in real-time, and tackle collaborative guild quests.
Progression Systems
- Achievements: Badges for milestones, speed runs, and perfect scores
- Power-Ups: Hint tokens, XP boosts, skip cards earned through play
- Daily Challenges: Bonus puzzles with streak tracking and leaderboards
- Boss Battles: Multi-part quests every 10 squares testing cumulative knowledge
Adaptive Difficulty
AI adjusts challenge levels based on performance patterns. Ladders skip advanced learners forward; snakes review fundamentals for struggling students.
Student Dashboard
📍 Current: Square 15 - "Object-Oriented Programming"
🎯 Next: Complete 5 modules to unlock Boss Battle #2
Includes
- Interactive board map with visual progress indicators
- Performance graphs (Chart.js) showing learning velocity and skill progression
- Achievement gallery with badges and power-up inventory
- AI recommendations based on performance patterns
Admin Dashboard
📊 Class Overview: CSP Period 3
⚠️ 4 students inactive 5+ days - send reminder?
Features
- User management with progress reset and manual unlocks
- Class analytics: completion rates, difficult modules, usage patterns
- Individual drill-down: timestamps, answers, time spent, hints used
- Content management: add/edit modules, adjust difficulty via web forms
- Export to CSV, generate certificates, LMS integration
- Auto-flag struggling students with intervention tools
Technical Stack
Backend
Database Schema
Users: user_id, username, email, password_hash, role, timestamps Progress: progress_id, user_id, current_square, total_xp, accuracy, streak Completed_Modules: completion_id, user_id, module_id, score, time, hints Achievements: achievement_id, user_id, badge_type, earned_at Power_Ups: powerup_id, user_id, item_type, quantity
Key Routes
/dashboard- Student progress view/game-board- Interactive board interface/module/<id>- Learning module content/submit-answer- POST: validate and update progress/admin/analytics- Admin analytics dashboard/api/progress- JSON for AJAX updates
Logic
- Check
current_squarebefore granting module access - Validate submissions, increment position on passing threshold (70%+)
- Snakes/ladders modify position based on performance triggers
- Award XP, badges, power-ups via database insertions
Deployment
- Dev: Local Flask + SQLite
- Prod: Heroku/AWS/DigitalOcean + PostgreSQL + Redis sessions
- Optimization: DB indexing, SQLAlchemy lazy loading,
- Mobile: Responsive design, touch controls, swipe navigation, offline caching