Game engine and authoring tool for near real-time pattern matching games on mobile platform

With the rapid advancement of technology in the last decade, we are surrounded by devices of all shapes and sizes. They come in the form of smartphones to smart displays, as well as our computing devices and even household equipment. The new generation of children are born into this age of abundant technology and it plays a huge role in shaping how these children nurture and grow. They are more dependent on digital avenues of communication and information retrieval, such as online messengers, games and social media platforms. However, these technologies may also contribute to the decrease in physical interaction and effectiveness of communication and learning. The purpose of this project is to explore the viability of integrating technology into learning, with the focus being using technology as an aid to encourage social interaction and face to face communication. To achieve this, an interactive educational game system was built on the Android platform, which consisted of 2 major components, mainly the Game Authoring & Sequence Matching Server (Game Server) as well as the input software (Keypad), which communicates wirelessly over the network. Gameplay feedback resides on the game server while input is received from the player devices. The focus of the game system/authoring tool resides in its pattern matching algorithm, which will allow educators to create their own custom games using modular components coupled with the matching algorithm. Through abstraction of generic functions, games ranging from mathematical formula to picture recognition can be extended from the base game logic. The final product is a playable prototype of the Competitive Game Mode, which was built on the foundation of the Custom Game Mode that was initially used to explore the different game design and implementation methods. At the end of the project, user case studies were conducted on the competitive game mode. User feedback focuses on the aspects of game design, user experience and interface as well as user acceptance.Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science