“Road to Merdeka” educational game using role-playing game / Muhammad Syafiq Kamal Azam

Studies show that the current way of learning history via textbook is not efficient in delivering the content while also being unattractive for students. Additionally, students also tend to lose focus in class due to having no interest in learning history. To support the learning of history in more interactive ways, a game titled “Road to Merdeka” is developed. This game focuses on the history of Tanah Melayu’s independence through the contributions of Dato Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman. Base on the history syllabus of Form 5, the journeys of this important figure are translated in the form of missions to be completed by players using the technique of Role-Playing Game. The topic covered for this game content is the chapter of “Pembinaan Negara dan Bangsa yang Merdeka” from the history textbook. Players control an avatar representing Dato Onn to complete missions including the formation of Sistem Ahli, exposure of members and portfolios in Sistem Ahli and formation of Pakatan Murni. After Dato’ Onn Jaafar mission completed, student can control an avatar that resemble Tunku Abdul Rahman and follow his journey. One mission has been designed for this figure which is fundraising for “Rundingan Kemerdekaan” at London. Throughout the missions, the avatar would meet and interact with other characters representing other important figures of Tanah Melayu’s independence and they would work together for the mission of achieving independence. Method used for this game is ADDIE method. By playing this game, players experience the journey and challenges faced by Malaysia’s independence figures interactively. This may help them to understand the topic of Malaysian independence in a more attractive way and may also increase their appreciation of Dato Onn and other important figures’ contributions to the country. The findings suggest that this game needs to improve the design variation so more students are attracted to learn history through playing game and increase the usability while learning. Future work can be applied by improve game content by cover more topics from the syllabus.