Balancing learning efficiency and production cost : A comparative study of 3D visual styles in educational games for children

Name: Voravika Wattanasoontorn

Organization : Prince of Songkla University. College of Computing

Name: Mathus Theppaitoon

Organization : Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology

Email : mathus.t@rmutsv.ac.th

LCSH: Educational games

LCSH: Three-dimensional imaging

LCSH: Computer graphics

LCSH: Visual learning

Abstract: Choosing a suitable 3-dimensional (3D) art style is one of the most important tasks when developing any new educational game that is aimed at a young target audience. Our study measures the trade-off between effective learning and production cost (defined here as development time spent on modeling, texturing, and rendering, not financial or labor costs) in three representative 3D graphic styles - simplified, stylized, and photo realistic - within a serious game targeted at children 6 to 12. Players’ memory performance was assessed with a pre- and a post-test using a custom-built game application, and production time for twelve different visual styles was also measured.We present the results indicating that the Stylize style leads to better memory recall with the highest user satisfaction and that it requires much less production time in comparison to Photo Realistic. Although the simplified style was quicker to produce, it did not result in statistically significant learning gains. Our findings show that stylized visuals offer the best trade-off of cognitive support and cost, entailing practical implications for designing educational games. This paper provides the first data-driven framework for selecting 3D styles in educational games based on learning effectiveness and production feasibility. Further studies might build on this framework by examining additional cognitive tasks and learner populations

King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. Central Library

Address: BANGKOK

Email: library@kmutnb.ac.th

Created: 2025

Modified: 2026-02-23

Issued: 2026-02-23

บทความ/Article

application/pdf

BibliograpyCitation : In Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus. College of Computing. The 9th International Conference on Information Technology (InCIT 2025) (pp.64-71). Phuket : Prince of Songkla University

eng

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