Patent ID: 8454419

Claim:
A method of operating a computer game, comprising: operating a server computer system managing a body of knowledge; delivering a client software application to a user computer device; rendering, on the user computer device, a game interface to the body of knowledge; mapping, within the game interface, a graphical representation of a physical metaphor representing structure of the body of knowledge; organizing the body of knowledge subject material sequentially; mapping, within the game interface, the sequence to the structure of the physical metaphor; structuring the body of knowledge subject matter hierarchically, wherein the body of knowledge is question and answer material and wherein the hierarchy has at least three levels of structure; mapping, within the game interface, hierarchical structure of the physical metaphor to the hierarchical structure of the body of knowledge; mapping learning techniques to the physical metaphor; presenting, within the game interface rendered on the user computer device, ordered questions from a lowest level of the hierarchical structure; tracking, by the server computer, correct and incorrect user responses to determine if a user successfully understands the material at the level presented; allowing access to one or more further levels after the user successfully demonstrates a minimum understanding of the level presented; displaying, within the game interface rendered on the user computer device, a graphical change in the representation of the physical metaphor indicating successful completion after a user successfully demonstrates a minimum understanding of the level presented; determining, by the server computer, a target refresh time to re-present the questions of a previously successfully completed level based on the spacing effect; and displaying, within the game interface rendered on the user computer device, a state of decay of the representation of the physical metaphor connected to successfully understood levels, wherein the degree of decay is based on proximity to the target refresh time and designed to induce re-completion of the level by the user closest to the target refresh time.