Flexible role playing game engine for case studies in forensic accounting

Abstract

This paper reports on the design, development and first implementation of a role playing game engine to improve students’ learning for a university course in Forensic Accounting, a specialty that has been growing in popularity in recent years. A role playing game (RPG) engine has been developed to allow students to act in a virtual environment as forensic accountants responsible in investigating potential fraud cases. It was observed that students were more engaged and class interaction was greatly enhanced. The gaming nature of the tasks also helped create a friendly competitive atmosphere and encouraged independent learning. Unlike other game engines, the developed system was designed specifically to allow teachers to create new and maintenance existing cases on their own with little need for technical assistance. The developed system is extremely reusable and is highly adoptable for other disciplines to be used in case studies activities.