Abstract

With the expansion of digital games in education and cultural heritage familiarization, the analysis of game design elements, as the core of game-based learning, has emerged as a novel approach to enhance engagement, motivation, and deep learning in this domain. This study aims to analyze gamification mechanisms and game design elements in recreating the Golden Age of Islamic civilization and introducing cultural heritage through a case study of the game Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The theoretical framework integrates Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) model to explain how game design elements link to psychological and educational outcomes. The research methodology is based on qualitative analysis and purposive data mining of reviews published on specialized game review websites. After text preprocessing and applying information adoption model criteria, 70 selected reviews were examined for the final analysis. Findings revealed that five core gamification components—rewards, missions, progression, challenges, and exploration—were systematically employed in the game’s structure and have the capacity to foster increased engagement and implicit learning of Islamic history by reinforcing a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The results indicate that designing Baghdad as an interactive, narrative-driven environment provides the capacity for a lived experience of the cultural, architectural, and social elements of the Abbasid era, effectively transforming the game into a living digital museum. By providing a structural analysis of game design elements, this study proposes a practical framework for the purposeful use of commercial games in history and cultural heritage education.



Extended Abstract

Introduction: The teaching of history and cultural heritage has consistently faced challenges such as the abstract nature of concepts, the temporal distance from events, and a decline in learner motivation, particularly among the younger generation. The Assassin's Creed game series, especially the 2023 installment Mirage with its recreation of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, possesses significant potential for indirectly teaching and introducing Islamic cultural heritage. Despite existing research focusing on the touristic and linguistic applications of this game, a systematic analysis of its gamification elements and their impact on teaching history and cultural heritage has been largely overlooked. This study aimed to fill this theoretical and practical gap by analyzing the gamification mechanisms in Assassin's Creed Mirage and explaining their role in recreating history and introducing Islamic cultural heritage.

Methods: This research employed a qualitative approach utilizing the Information Adoption Model. Data were collected by gathering published reviews and opinions about Assassin's Creed Mirage from non-Persian language specialized gaming websites (English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Korean, Arabic, and Portuguese). After translating non-English comments into English and editing them, approximately 100,000 words were compiled. Subsequently, through targeted searches, 70 reviews most relevant to the topic of gamification were selected for final analysis. The selected data underwent preprocessing steps including stop-word removal, text cleaning (removing unwanted characters), eliminating extra spaces, and word normalization. They were then analyzed using targeted data mining techniques and content analysis.

Results: The analysis of the reviews led to the identification of five main gamification elements and components in Assassin's Creed Mirage: 1) Rewards (including equipment, weapons, outfits, resources, and tokens), which reinforce players' feelings of competence and progress by providing positive feedback. 2) Missions (main and side quests) with an investigation-based structure and a network of clues that, instead of a linear narrative, actively engage the player in uncovering the story and history, thereby enhancing their autonomy. 3) Progression, which is not based merely on accumulating points, but through upgrading the Assassin rank and gradually unlocking skills and tools, instills a sense of growth and mastery. 4) Challenges, created through stronger enemies, puzzles, and resource limitations, which, by balancing with the player's skill level, place them in an optimal experience state (flow). 5) Exploration on three levels—spatial (exploring the city of Baghdad), mechanical (experimenting with game rules), and narrative (discovering documents and sub-narratives)—which plays a pivotal role in familiarizing the player with the architectural, cultural, and social details of the Abbasid era. The system of collectible historical artifacts (Codex and Blueprints) also facilitates learning through player curiosity, acting as a virtual tour guide. In total, 19 gamification elements were identified within these five components, and their function in the field of Islamic cultural heritage education was explained.

Conclusion: This research demonstrates that Assassin's Creed Mirage, through its purposeful combination of gamification elements, is not merely an entertainment product but functions as an implicit, interactive, and multi-sensory learning environment for familiarization with Islamic cultural heritage. The game's design, through the mechanics of rewards, missions, progression, challenges, and exploration, evokes dynamics such as curiosity, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, ultimately leading to an aesthetically pleasing experience and meaningful learning. In other words, by indirectly fulfilling the fundamental psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) as posited by Self-Determination Theory, the game strengthens players' intrinsic motivation to explore and learn about the history and culture of Iran and the Islamic world. The findings have practical applications for educational game designers, educational technology specialists, history teachers, and professionals in the cultural heritage field. Based on the results, it is recommended that the extracted gamification model (including a mission-based structure, personalized pathways, a meaningful reward system, side quests, tiered challenges, problem-based exploration, and a behavioral feedback system) be used in designing learning environments related to Islamic cultural heritage. Study limitations include its focus on analyzing secondary source reviews from websites (rather than direct user experiences in formal educational settings) and its concentration on a single specific game (Mirage), which limits the generalizability of the results. Future research could conduct experimental studies in classroom settings to measure the direct impact of these elements on learners' knowledge acquisition and attitudes towards Islamic cultural heritage.