Serious Games as an Educational Strategy in Chemistry Classes: Case Study of a Mobile Application for learning Chemistry in School

The project Queen of Quicksilver is located in the field of Serious Games. The application serves as a case study to answer the research question: How does the mobile application “Queen of Quicksilver”, a motivating educational chemistry game, influence the learning success and enthusiasm for chemical content among adolescents in the 7th to 10th grade of German high school. The Queen of Quicksilver project is designed to support pupils during their time at school and to encourage and strengthen their motivation so that learning content is efficiently consolidated. The aim is to reinforce the basics of stoichiometry in a fun way and promote intrinsic motivation. During an evaluation, approaches for improving the application were discovered, improved, and tested in an eighth-grade class, guided by people from the fields of chemistry, didactic, and game design. The test subjects in the evaluation showed an increased interest in chemistry. Their understanding of balancing reaction equations was also improved.