CureQuest: A Digital Game for New Drug Discovery

Ben Chang, Janice Gabrilove, Shawn Lawson, Kathleen Ruiz, Mei Si

Abstract: Cure Quest is an educational adventure game about Clinical Translational Therapeutics, the process of discovery and development of new medical treatments, drugs, devices, and therapies. The game is being developed through collaboration between faculty and students from a game design program and those from a medical school to raise awareness and improve collaboration in the “bench to bedside” process. Cure Quest aims to address this gap, first with medical students and ultimately for a general audience, with a game that instills wonder and inspires players with drug discovery challenges. In addition to the game's impact when completed, the development process itself presents a novel case study of integrating the interdisciplinary fields of game development and “team science.” We present the current version of the game in development, the unique design challenges presented by the project, and the evolution of our collaborative process.