Anatomy PhD Project

[flommoxed]

Hello all,

I am an Anatomy Education Phd student studying gamification of medical science. For the past year, I have been researching ANKI and how medical students use it to succeed in their heavy course load. The app is excellent for spaced repetition, but where it succeeds in utilitarianism, I feel it fails aesthetically and in ease of use.

My dream is to make a spaced-repetition flashcard game that utilizes the same algorithms as ANKI, but with deck-building components that increase user enjoyment- an ANKI/Balatro hybrid if you will.

i.e.- students learning the arm would open up their upper limb deck containing a card for the scapula, humerus, etc. As they answer scapula-related questions, the scapula card levels up, changes appearance, and can receive multipliers bought with in-game currency (answering bone questions yields calcium crystals for example).

I have spent my whole career in the life sciences, and thus have no experience programming. I would love to sit down and learn Lua, but to do so during a PhD seems a tad overzealous. Would anyone be interested in assisting me in a project like this?

> I would need a pixel artist(s) to create the UI, cards, and images for the questions being asked. No pressure, but they would need to be anatomically correct!

> I would need a programmer(s) to set up the interface to my specifications, though given my lack of expertise everything is open to discussion!

> Ideally, I would like a minimally viable product by the end of May. This would only include the bones of the arm and the terms associated with them.

> We can talk payment but keep in mind I am on a grad student salary lol

The game dev community at my university did not seem all that interested, so I thought I'd send this flare out. If you have any advice, reach out! If you want to get to know me and my project more, super reach out!

Cheers and thanks for reading,
flommoxed

[ivan]

Hello and welcome to the love2d community. This seems like an interesting project and I will be happy to help you although there are a few caveats. Game development is not lucrative, especially if you are adamant about implementing your own ideas.
I have worked on a lot of games (including educational titles) and I am not 100% convinced that introducing deck building mechanics would aid the learning process. What may happen with your game is that the students will become very savvy with the deck building component, without learning much about the subject matter that you are trying to teach. In my experience, an original "interactive toy" is much more effective in teaching new concepts rather than borrowing mechanics from existing games.

[flommoxed]

Hello and welcome to the love2d community. This seems like an interesting project and I will be happy to help you although there are a few caveats. Game development is not lucrative, especially if you are adamant about implementing your own ideas.
I have worked on a lot of games (including educational titles) and I am not 100% convinced that introducing deck building mechanics would aid the learning process. What may happen with your game is that the students will become very savvy with the deck building component, without learning much about the subject matter that you are trying to teach. In my experience, an original "interactive toy" is much more effective in teaching new concepts rather than borrowing mechanics from existing games.

Thank you for the welcome and for taking the time to share your perspective! I appreciate your experience in game development, especially in educational titles. That said, I’d like to address a few assumptions in your response.

First, while I understand that game development isn’t always lucrative, this project isn’t driven by financial goals. The primary aim is to create a highly engaging, effective learning tool for anatomy students—one that integrates active recall and spaced repetition in a way that feels natural and rewarding. While financial success would be a bonus, the priority is making something research-backed and efficacious.

Second, I'd push back on your skepticism about deck-building mechanics aiding learning. The concern that students may engage more with the deck-building component than with the material assumes that the two are separate. Potential snafus like these would ideally be ironed out as the product is vetted during building.

I appreciate the critical thought and the interaction! Thanks again

[ivan]

It is good to see that you are focused on the educational potential of the game.
By "subject matter" I mean the theme, storyline and the setting of the game. A game's mechanics usually define its genre which is a separate concept from the subject matter. In your case, you want to make a game in the genre of deck-building and the subject is anatomy.
Thanks again and please advise if you need any further help.