Integrating Analog Games and Minecraft for Urban Greening

Education: A Serious Game Approach for Elementary Students

Ryohei Egusa

, Yuuri Kimura

and Hiroko Tsuji

Platform for Arts and Sciences, Chiba University of Commerce,1-3-1, Konodai, Ichilkawa, Japan

Institute for Liberal Arts, Institute of Science Tokyo, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Department of Education and Child Development, Department of Psychology,

Meiji Gakuin University,

1-2-37, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Toky, Japan

Keywords: Environmental Education, Serious Game, Minecraft, SDGs.

Abstract: This study presents the development of a serious game that integrates an analog board game with Minecraft

to enhance urban greening education for elementary school students. Urban greening plays a crucial role in

sustainable urban development by contributing to environmental regulation, public well-being, and achieving

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, environmental education in Japanese elementary schools

remains limited due to the complexity of the topic and curriculum constraints. The proposed game features

intuitive controls and real-time simulation, allowing students to learn about urban greening through interactive

city-building activities. The game system uses a web camera to capture the placement of physical game pieces

on a board, with TensorFlow processing the image to identify piece types and positions. This data is converted

into NumPy array, corresponding to Minecraft’s world coordinates, and the city is constructed using pre-

defined building information. A scoring system evaluates development levels and air pollution based on the

types, quantities, and configurations of buildings. The game promotes collaborative problem-solving and

active discussion among players, enhancing engagement with urban greening concepts. Future work involves

refining the missions, scoring mechanisms, and conducting practical tests to evaluate the game’s educational

effectiveness in fostering sustainable urban learning.

1 INTRODUCTION

Urban greening has been widely acknowledged for its

multifaceted and substantial contributions to urban

environments. It is expected to play a critical role in

alleviating the urban heat island effect, enhancing air

quality through pollutant filtration, promoting

psychological well-being, and fostering more liveable

urban spaces by offering areas for recreation and

relaxation (e.g. Islam et al., 2024; Makram et al.,

2024; Yao et al., 2020). Moreover, urban greening

serves as a crucial strategy for climate change

mitigation and adaptation in cities, contributing to

carbon sequestration and reducing energy

consumption (Norton et al., 2015). The integration of

green infrastructure in urban planning has also shown

economic benefits, related environmental regulation

and property values (Song et al., 2018). Thus, urban

greening is not just an environmental initiative but a

comprehensive solution for sustainable urban

development.

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development comprises 17 Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) that are to be achieved by 2030. Within

this framework, Urban Greening hold a critical role at

the local level by providing recreational services,

contributing to bioclimatic regulation, and

functioning as carbon sinks. Lorenzo-Sáez et al.

(2021) pointed that green urban areas (GUAs) make

direct contributions to three key SDGs: SDG 11 -

Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13 -

Climate Action, and SDG 15 - Life on Land. Urban

greening represents an important aspect of

environmental education, integrating various

disciplines such as plant sciences, urban planning,

community development involving diverse

stakeholders, and engineering-based problem-solving.

Within the framework of education for SDGs, theme

of urban greening provides substantial educational

value by addressing critical environmental, social,

and technical challenges, thereby fostering a

598

Egusa, R., Kimura, Y. and Tsuji, H.

Integrating Analog Games and Minecraft for Urban Greening Education: A Serious Game Approach for Elementary Students.

DOI: 10.5220/0013441400003932

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2025) - Volume 1, pages 598-603

ISBN: 978-989-758-746-7; ISSN: 2184-5026

comprehensive understanding of sustainable urban

development.

Additionally, urban greening is a promising theme

for STEAM education due to its strong ties to

sustainability and the SDGs. STEAM education is an

interdisciplinary teaching approach that integrates

Science, Technology, Engineering, (Liberal) Arts,

and Mathematics (Yakman, 2006). This holistic

approach encourages students to connect diverse

subjects, solve real-world problems creatively, and

develop skills essential for the 21st century. Urban

greening involves enhancing city environments

through initiatives like planting trees, creating green

roofs, or designing sustainable urban spaces.

However, environmental education in Japanese

elementary schools is not adequately covered in the

curriculum. In Japan, the National Land Afforestation

Promotion Organization (2020) highlights that forest

creation, which utilizes the functions of plants to

foster improvements toward a sustainable

environment, is closely aligned with the objectives of

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, it has been pointed out that Japan’s national

curriculum guidelines lack explicit references to

environmental education. Instead, “environment” is

merely presented as an illustrative theme that may be

addressed during the “Period for Integrated Studies,”

indicating the limited emphasis placed on

environmental education within the formal

curriculum framework (National Land Afforestation

Promotion Organization, 2022). There are some

practical examples of “green curtains” and “school

greening” centered around elementary schools, but

not all of them are positioned within educational

activities (Zheng et al., 2020). As you can see, it is

difficult to make greening a learning task for learners

to take the initiative in Japanese elementary school

education.

Urban greening education presents several

inherent challenges from learners’ engagement and

motivational perspectives. First, the complex

interplay between natural phenomena and societal

factors makes it impractical to conduct empirical

experiments or demonstrate immediate effects within

the constraints of traditional classroom settings.

Second, while observational learning from familiar

urban environments in learners' neighborhoods and

existing local data sets are valuable, the availability

of suitable learning environments or relevant data

cannot be consistently guaranteed across different

educational contexts and communities where students

live and study. While theoretical learning through

idealized case studies is possible, such approaches

may fail to establish meaningful connections with

learners' lived experiences.

Gamification effectively addresses these

pedagogical challenges by providing an interactive

simulation environment where learners can observe

the direct consequences of their decisions on

environmental and social outcomes. Gamification has

garnered significant scholarly attention across diverse

disciplines, including education, informatics, human-

computer interaction, and health sciences. While

systematic reviews have shown mixed results

regarding its educational effectiveness, numerous

studies have investigated its potential for enhancing

learner motivation and engagement (Seaborn & Fels,

2015; Koivisto & Hamari, 2019). Furthermore, the

integration of collaborative elements in game design

is expected to promote active discussion and peer

learning, fostering the development of critical

thinking and problem-solving competencies. These

collaborative aspects are particularly pertinent given

the multi-stakeholder nature of real-world urban

planning and environmental management decisions.

This study aims to develop a serious game focused

on greening activities for elementary school students,

with the objective of fostering their understanding

and increasing their engagement in environmental

initiatives. A serious game is defined as a game

designed with a primary purpose beyond mere

entertainment, often serving educational, training,

and professional development goals across various

fields (Boyle et al., 2016). By experiencing the

complex structure and effects of urban greening

through a game-based format, children are enabled to

engage intuitively and actively in environmental

learning through urban greening simulations. This

paper presents the development concept and the

system architecture underlying the serious game.

2 GAME SYSTEM

2.1 Concept

Our game system design is grounded in social

constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978), which posits that

knowledge construction occurs through dialogic

interaction and social engagement. The system

facilitates collaborative urban greening strategies

through an approach, combining physical game board

manipulation with digital feedback. The learning

process will be structured through designed mission

scenarios incorporating scaffolding and fading, where

urban planning challenges will progressively increase

in complexity from basic city development to

Integrating Analog Games and Minecraft for Urban Greening Education: A Serious Game Approach for Elementary Students

599

advanced environmental management. These

missions, supported by computer-mediated

interactions, are planned to guide students from

simple spatial arrangements to complex decision-

making involving multiple stakeholders and

environmental factors, enabling them to develop

experiential understanding of urban greening

principles. As students demonstrate mastery of basic

concepts, the scaffolding will gradually fade,

allowing for more autonomous problem-solving in

complex scenarios.

The integration of analog and digital game

elements in educational contexts has emerged as a

promising approach for creating engaging learning

environments. A primary advantage of this hybrid

approach is the provision of immediate digital

feedback in response to physical object manipulation.

This methodology has demonstrated efficacy with

younger learners (Sluis et al., 2004; Zuckerman et al.,

2005). The representation of urban planning elements

through tangible objects on the game board, coupled

with digital feedback, is designed to enhance spatial

cognition through object manipulation.

For older learners, the incorporation of physical

objects offers distinct advantages in supporting social

tasks and collaborative activities. The tangible

interface creates a shared workspace that facilitates

collaborative engagement, and participants can more

readily observe and interact with each other's

contributions compared to purely graphical

representations on digital displays (Suzuki & Kato,

1995; Zuckerman et al., 2005).

Based on these theoretical and empirical

foundations, our game integrates analog and digital

elements to present urban greening challenges and

promote collaborative problem-solving among

players.

2.2 Game Design

The game was designed with the aim of ensuring

intuitive operation. To achieve this, the development

was based on an analog board game framework.

Additionally, a visualization component using

Minecraft, which aligns well with STEAM education

for children, was integrated. Specifically, the

gameplay proceeds as follows: players place physical

pieces on a game board, with each piece representing

elements such as green spaces, residential areas,

factories, and hospitals. Based on the placement of

these pieces, a city is generated within the Minecraft

environment (Figure 1, 2).

Each piece is assigned scores representing

development factors—such as population, production,

Figure 1: Concept Design.

Figure 2: Game Pieces.

and convenience—as well as air pollution levels.

These scores are influenced not only by the number of

pieces placed but also by their spatial arrangement.

For example, placing residential areas near factories

increases air pollution levels, but this effect can be

mitigated by placing green spaces between them.

Players engage in discussions as they position the

pieces and adjust their placements after observing the

outcomes. Through this interactive city-building

simulation, players can learn about the effects of urban

greening on environmental and urban development.

This game is structured around discussions and

missions, encouraging players to deepen their

understanding of urban greening through simulation

and dialogue. In real-world urban development, the

involvement of numerous stakeholders often results

in complex situations. Examples of missions and key

objectives during gameplay are as follows: 1) Create

a city with a specified population: Place multiple

residential areas and factories to enhance the city’s

development level. 2) Reduce air pollution while

maintaining the development level: Strategically

place residential areas, factories, and green spaces to

balance growth and environmental impact. 3)

Improve the city’s convenience: Maintain green

spaces while adding facilities such as hospitals and

residential buildings. Additionally, a cost is assigned

to each piece, and the total number of pieces that

players can place is limited by a budget, introducing

a strategic dimension to the gameplay. The missions

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can be flexibly adjusted based on the players’ skill

levels, ensuring a more tailored and adaptive

experience. Through these missions, players engage

in collaborative problem-solving and gain valuable

insights into the complexities and strategies involved

in sustainable urban planning.

2.3 System Environment

The system is composed of the following

components: a laptop PC, a web camera, Google

Colaboratory, and physical game pieces. We utilize

the Minecraft Forge API, which provides hooks into

Minecraft, to transfer information between the

physical placement of the game pieces captured by

the web camera and the Minecraft world. Minecraft

version 1.12 is used in this setup.

The program is developed using Python (v3.12)

and JavaScript (ES5). For Python, the non-standard

libraries Tensorflow (v2.17.1), NumPy (v1.26.4), and

mcpi (v1.2.1) are employed to handle computations

and interactions with the Minecraft interface.

2.4 System Overview

The system requires the following equipment for

operation:1. A game board (150cm × 150cm blank),

2. Game pieces (5cm × 5cm × 5cm per piece), with

the number and kinds of pieces determined by

specific mission requirements, 3. One laptop

computer (meeting or exceeding Minecraft's

recommended system requirements), 4. A web

camera (recommended: 2 megapixels or higher

resolution), 5. Internet connectivity.

The system operates as follows (Figure 3). First,

players place game pieces on the board. The pieces

are cubic in shape, with their top surfaces painted in

distinct colors to represent different types of

buildings. Next, Google Colaboratory controls the

web camera to capture an image of the board. The

captured image is sent to Colaboratory as image data

and processed using TensorFlow to estimate the types

and positions of the pieces.

The estimated data is converted into a 300×300

NumPy array, where each element corresponds to the

position and type of a game piece. This array directly

maps to the x, z coordinates in the 300×300 block grid

within the Minecraft world. The generated NumPy

array data is then read by the Building Program and

the Scoring Program on the laptop PC.

The Building Program uses the recorded types and

positions of the pieces in the NumPy array to place

corresponding blocks in the Minecraft world. It

references a CSV file containing predefined

information on the structures and block types for each

building type. Subsequently, the Scoring Program

calculates the city’s development level and air

pollution index based on the types, quantities, and

arrangements of the buildings. These values are

displayed in real time as an overlay on the Minecraft

gameplay screen on the laptop PC.

Figure 3: System Overview.

Integrating Analog Games and Minecraft for Urban Greening Education: A Serious Game Approach for Elementary Students

601

3 CONCLUSIONS

This study outlines the development of a game that

integrates an analog board game with Minecraft to

support learning about urban greening. Despite the

recognized importance of urban greening, its

complexity, alongside the time, cost, and spatial

constraints involved in effective education, has posed

significant challenges. This game, with its intuitive

controls and real-time simulation, has the potential to

improve urban greening education, a subject that has

received limited attention in Japanese elementary

schools.

The game is designed to promote discussion and

simulation-based learning, encouraging students to

engage actively in the learning process. Future work

will focus on refining the missions and scoring

systems based on expert input in areas such as SDGs,

STEAM education, environmental studies, and urban

greening. Additionally, practical testing and

evaluation of the game’s educational effectiveness

will be necessary to assess its contribution to urban

greening education.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant

Number 24H00169. We would like to express our

sincere gratitude to the students of Meiji Gakuin

University for their valuable contributions in

generating ideas and assisting with the development

of this game.

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