# Gamitest: A Game-like Online Student Assessment System +
## 3 Game-like Assessment System  
### The Concept  
Although the Gamitest tool proposed here shares its purpose with the gamified tools for online assessment presented in Section 2, it has been developed following a different path: rather than augmenting a student response system with gamification elements, it was conceived from its very beginning as a game consisting in answering test questions. Its key concept is to base the gameplay on a fundamental game design element that can be found in most video games but is hardly ever used in gamification: a life meter for the player. Students start the assessment with their life meter set to 100%. Like the tools described in Section 2, the assessment gives points to the player for every good answer, yet unlike them, it reduces the player's life meter by a fixed amount for every wrong answer (by default, 15% of the initial life--not the current life). Whenever players do not answer before the time passes (in 60 s by default) or they select the \"I don't know\" option, their life meter is reduced by a smaller amount (by default, 10% of the initial life). The assessment is over when the player's life meter drops to 0%. The final grade (deciding if the test has been passed or failed) depends on the number of points collected up to this moment (though not directly; this will be described later with a finer grain of detail). The other way of finishing the assessment is by staying alive until the last question has been answered. Note that in contrast to the other tools, where motivation is mostly based on the anticipation of rewards (points, top ranking, etc.) awarded for right answers, this tool also exploits fear-based motivation, with the players being afraid of losing their in-game life and losing the game for wrong answers, which should induce more engagement and thus help students stay focused on the test. Like video games, the Gamitest tool provides instant feedback, showing a success/failure message along with the current player status after each answer. Attached to the presented messages are corresponding images evoking emotions, both positive (displayed at the beginning of the assessment, after every good answer, and at the end of the assessment if the student has passed) and negative (displayed after every wrong answer and at the end of the assessment if the student has failed). Unlike video games, as the tool can also be used in the classroom where silence is needed to not disturb other students, as there are no relevant sound effects or music scores attached to the respective displayed images. In order to extend the students' range of possible activity beyond answering the question, there are two additional actions, each of which can be used just once in one test: option check (which verifies whether the currently selected option is right or wrong) and time extension (which gives more time to answer the current question, an extra 45 s by default). This helps students deal with the most difficult questions while, at the same time, allowing them to make some strategic decisions (whether to perform a specific action on the current question or keep it expecting an even harder question to come later). As mentioned earlier, the final grade on the test only indirectly depends on the gathered points, as it depends directly on the level attained by the student. As the students progress with the number of collected points, their level rises. There are three levels in the game. Players begin at level 1, which means failure if they remain at this level at the end of the assessment. The player progresses to level 2 after having correctly answered the seventh question--if, for the sake of simplicity, we ignore the time-outs, considering that seven wrong answers are needed to zero the player's life meter, this means that the minimum number of questions that the player must answer to pass the test is fourteen, with the ratio of good answers being 50%. Level 2 guarantees the student a passing grade. Once achieved, it cannot degrade back to level 1.