Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges

This paper aims to present an interactive web game that serves as an effective game-based learning tool for teaching the basics of computer networks. The software includes game situations and scenarios regarding network topologies, passive and active network elements, and network protocols. The implementation also provides processing documentation for game mechanics, allowing players to understand the game's rules and principles better. In addition, the game offers the possibility of gradually going through all the levels and recording the results in a table, which will help monitor the player's progress. A helpful feature in the implementation will allow users to run a completed level on their device, which will encourage repetition and practice of specific skills and knowledge according to each player's individual pace and needs. We discuss questions of practical game development as well as our experiences with applying a game-based learning approach to the didactics of concrete high school. The game is deployed on a trial sample of high school students for a scientific investigation based on the evaluation of a feedback survey. The paper's results contribute to a deeper understanding of how to deploy serious gaming as a tool for didactics of informatics in high school and the brother education process generally. Our experience can serve as a helpful guide for teachers who want to make their teaching more effective, as well as for future developers in educational games.