A new and unique way to understand Jeju 4‧3:

Enjoy ‘room-escaping’ games on Sasam.com!

Lee Ji-yeon Lee, Teacher at Daegu Sukcheon Elementary School and Game Developer

+++ A room-escaping game played in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park

+++ Metaverse Bukchon-ri during the room-escaping game

An encounter with Jeju 4‧3 on games

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4‧3, the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation and teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools across the country have developed online games with the theme of Jeju 4‧3. If you type “sasam.com” into the search bar, you will find new and unique games in the format similar to that of room-escaping games.

The website contains four games. Players can enjoy the game on their smartphones by visiting the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall or walking around the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park to collect clues and complete the room-escaping mission. The games also have online-only modes so that they can be utilized for education on Jeju 4‧3 in schools.

Introduction to room-escaping games available at sasam.com

April Letter

Level:              ★★★

Setting: Offline (Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall) or online

“I lost a close friend of mine a long time ago. Could you help me find my precious friend?”

Offered in the room-escaping game format where you look around the exhibits in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Museum and read letters to find clues. An old man with grey hair has been waiting for his long-lost friend. Let’s trace back his memories!

 

Have You Heard of 4321?

Level:                 ★★★★

Setting: Offline (Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall) or online

“Have you heard of 4321? What would be your answer to this question?”

 

Can you guess what 4321 means?

Offered in the room-escaping game format where you look around the exhibits in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall and watch videos to find the answer. Let’s experience the game while watching the videos.

 

A Nameless Story

Level:              ★★★

Setting:            Offline (Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park) or online

Preparation:     Leaflet (offline) or printout (online)

“Welcome to the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park. I am the Nameless Storyteller.

I’m going to give you something of value if you listen to my nameless story. Would you like to listen to it?”

Offered in the room-escaping game format where you have to find the answer while visiting the main facilities and symbolic sculptures in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park. Walk around the park with a leaflet to find the final destination.

 

An Empty Photo Album

Level:                 ★★★★

Setting:            Metaverse ZEP

There is no future for those who forget the past. You found an empty photo album on Jeju Island. It is said that if you remember the past, you can fill the photo album. Will you be able to remember the past?

A metaverse game offered in the room-escaping format that embodies the natural environment of Jeju Island and its Jeju 4‧3 ruins. Walk through your avatar around historical sites of Jeju 4‧3 to solve problems.

Play games while visiting the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park

The goal of Jeju 4‧3 games is to gain more attention to the exhibits in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park and to help better understand Jeju 4‧3. The questions in the game are designed to be solved while visiting the memorial hall and the park.

Once in the game, the students will not see anything without paying attention to it. To solve the first problem, they must start by observing the pillars around the exhibition rooms. Entering one of the rooms, they have to carefully examine the photographs, the appearance of the exhibits, and the various diagrams and photo images to solve the problem. When they find the answer to the problem, they will naturally move on to the next room and see the ending of the story. It is as if they play a “room-escaping game” while reading an interesting story and figuring out the meaning behind it.

Room-escaping games available in classroom settings

“Today we’re going to play a game about a historical event.”

Students’ eyes light up when the word “game” is heard during the teacher’s instruction.

Students log on to the room-escaping game on Jeju 4‧3 and get invested in the story. When the first students to solve a problem and move on to the next level drop a hint, the other students try to stop them, shouting “No spoilers!” It is a testament to their determination to solve problems on their own, however difficult they are.

All of the games at sasam.com are available online, so that students can try them out as a classroom activity. I asked a teacher who taught a 6th grade class with the online version of “April Letter” what she thought of it.

“First of all, it is a game-based approach to learning, so the students really enjoyed it.

As they worked through the problems associated with Jeju 4‧3, they were often surprised by what they learned.”

Educational games that make learning fun and meaningful

The Jeju 4‧3 ‘room-escaping’ games were created by a group of teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools across the country (the “roomescape.com crew”) who are interested in developing educational games. In order to create games where students can find fun and meaning, the stories have been designed to meet the eye level of students, using illustrations and videos. In addition, knowledgeable Jeju-based teachers reviewed the historical facts and problems behind the game.

The developers continuously searched for ways to utilize the game in the classroom by checking the operability of the games and the appropriateness of the questions.

The first two games utilize the exhibition rooms of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall, while the other two expand the scope to the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park and the metaverse. The latter two are named A Names Story and An Empty Photo Album.

A Name Story involves traveling around the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park to collect clues and find the final destination, so the players have to pay close attention to the main facilities and sculptural symbols and think about their meanings. As leaflets for visitors are essential, on-site participants are encouraged to pick up one at the memorial hall, and online participants should bring a printout.

An Empty Photo Album is a metaverse room-escaping game where students control their own avatars to move from one space to another. They will collect clues by controlling their avatars on a map drawn using Jeju Island’s natural environment and historic sites of Jeju 4‧3.

To date, more than 13,000 people have challenged the room-escaping games on Jeju 4‧3. The Jeju 4‧3 games encourage their users to discover the meaning of Jeju 4‧3 through fun challenges. All four games are expected to be utilized for education on a continued basis. Seeing is believing. Why don’t you visit sasam.com right now?

+++ ▽A graph analyzing the fun factors, level of difficulties, and usefulness for learning

Responses such as “It is fun to play the game” and “It helps with learning” are drawing an upward curve toward 5 points, and the level of difficulty is distributed in the 3-point range. The graph shows that participants find the games enjoyable and that they are useful enough for learning.

+++ ▽Please write down in on word what comes to your mind when you think of Jeju 4‧3. (Survey after playing the games)

After playing the games, the students not only found them enjoyable, but also thought of peace, protest, and memories. This suggests that the games made learning fun and meaningful at the same time.