Project management game 2D (PMG-2D): A serious game to assist software project managers training

Abstract

In these times of great changes, managing software projects effectively is a big challenge and it is increasingly more difficult to find skilled professionals. This paper presents the Project Management Game 2D (PMG-2D), an educational serious game that aims to assist inexperienced software project managers to be trained, considering cost, time, risk and human resources management areas. The PMG-2D simulates a real software development environment where the player, acting as a project manager, goes through all basic phases of a software project lifecycle. There are many roles in the team that have to be managed, and the members have different personalities in order to challenge the player when dealing with people and their conflicts and performance, among other characteristics. The mechanism implemented to control the character's personalities is based on the theory of the Five Big Factors, described by the lexical method conceived in the Psychology area. The evaluation was conducted within the context of a software engineering continuing education course, and 25 participants have played the game and answered a questionnaire. When analyzing the results, it was possible to find evidence that the game, besides assisting the project management training, stimulates the player to learn more about it.