
Show HN: Mazetec – Create text-based adventures with a timer and points - MaslowsMaze
https://www.mazetec.org
======
neckardt
I played through a few of the scenarios, this is quite interesting.

The failure states seem quite harsh though when I'm trying to explore the
paths. For example, while playing through the "How a Bill Becomes a Law"
example, if I make the mistake of introducing the bill to the house before a
committee, I get a warning "WHAT BILL ARE YOU INTRODUCING? What could you
possibly be introducing?". The all caps part is a font choice, so it doesn't
look like users could disable it which might scare some players. I would have
expected a much calmer explanation of the problem.

The other thing I would have liked is an easy link to a study guide or
external resources. I know the whole point is to learn by exploring the
decision tree, but I would have liked to stop and read more about what a
committee is, or to learn what a "rule" is that I'm assigning to a bill (I
still don't know). It seems like it's easy to get a rough overview of a
process, but not to dive deeper than that.

~~~
MaslowsMaze
We made how a bill becomes a law in collaboration with political science
professor from Colorado State University she really wanted to capture her
student's attention. But the decision tree and how it's displayed is anything
that you want it to be I felt nice that is a platform so users can sign up
create your own scenarios generate a link and send it out so students can
explore.

As far as linking to study guide or external resources we built a hint node to
offer additional information to students exploring that allows students to
pause the timer.

We are capturing a tremendous amount of analytics like for example we can see
when the student leaves the tab during play.

We capture every decision the amount of time on that decision the sequence and
the number of tries as well as abandonments and the abandonment nodes.

In the future we're planning an app resource guide.

Thank you for your comment. Give it a try and share it with a teacher!

------
MaslowsMaze
Driving Questions

How do you teach someone something they think they already know or who is ADHD
and can't focus?

You make them do it, but what if doing it is dangerous or puts someone else at
risk?

You create a safe environment for them to do it and practice.

Overview

The original goal of Mazetec was to make online learning more engaging. Rather
than telling the learner what to do, create a scenario and let them try it for
themselves.

For example, you're a knight, do you fight the dragon or run from the dragon?
What are the consequences of each decision? Give points for different choices.

Application Features

Build branching scenarios in the visual editor that people can play with a
link.

Ability to limit the time, thus creating a race against the clock and time
pressure.

Pressure changes the way people make decisions, give ppl 5 seconds to make a
decision or 50 seconds or no timer at all.

Create your own points you can have prefix and suffix on your scenario credits
and you can start a user with 100 and only subtract and fail them when they
reach 0.

e.g. points can be

50 Latnum

10 knuts

$5.00

100 Points

Life force 100%

Node types

Scene - branching node

Warning - sends the user back and subtracts points or time.

Hint - can pause the timer if enabled, sends the user back to the previous
node. This is meant to serve as a point of reflection.

Form - collect data using a survey or form at any point

Fail - Fails the user, but encourages them to restart.

Finish - The user finished the scenario successfully.

Scenario player try an example below. You can have custom branding.

Collaboration, Roles, and Permissions - invite other users to your account and
share your scenarios or keep them private or invite others to edit.

Privacy controls - on the links, set a password, set expiration dates, add
tags, require name and email.

Analytics - build your own visualizations and add them to a custom dashboard.

Individual decisions or aggregate basis, time it took, bonus and penalty

Device type, region, plays, etc....

Here are a few examples:

Player tester:
[https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=04f42f51-d295-4a53-a909-...](https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=04f42f51-d295-4a53-a909-75ae87fd0c7e)

How a bill becomes a law:
[https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=1c852406-8570-4af9-9afe-...](https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=1c852406-8570-4af9-9afe-90b2edf89ef9)

Slow the spread of COVID:
[https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=007a7134-168d-4eb8-87f6-...](https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=007a7134-168d-4eb8-87f6-d9d3989951ee)

Trout Fly Fishing Recognition Challenge:
[https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=a73f2afa-51bf-498d-98db-...](https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=a73f2afa-51bf-498d-98db-
eaeea495298c)

Courtesy of a beta tester: Malware Disaster Recovery Scenario:
[https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=acf5b1e6-e298-4a9b-92c5-...](https://app.mazetec.org/player?uuid=acf5b1e6-e298-4a9b-92c5-748eba8b69a2)

~~~
MaslowsMaze
I'm also happy to discuss any of the technical details. Mazetec is the result
of my Master's in computer science. I've made a lot of updates since last
sharing on Reddit but you are welcome to see the post there:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/hgugsj/after_4_year...](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/hgugsj/after_4_years_and_a_masters_degree_in_cs_i_give/)

