Using a Text Adventure Game for an Extended Series of Assignments in CS2

Abstract

Students in computer science and related disciplines need experience with larger software projects. This paper describes a sequence of assignments for CS2 that guide students to develop a text-based adventure game. These assignments seek to increase motivation, provide context for core topics, and explore some of the challenges associated with larger projects. This paper also describes forms of support and scaffolding to make such projects more effective, and describes lessons learned for faculty seeking to adapt or create their own extended assignments.