This research evaluates the efficacy of serious games in enhancing disaster risk awareness among school children in Peshawar, Pakistan. The research aims to compare the outcomes of the Hazagora board game with traditional lecture methods at the school level. Conducted at a local government school, the study employed an experimental design to compare the educational impact of the context-specific Hazagora board game (experimental group, N = 30) with traditional lecture-based instruction (control group, N = 30). A total of 60 sample sizes were selected through the quota sampling method. Using SPSS 24.0, an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was utilized to detect significant mean value differences across multiple groups, and the Least Significant Difference (LSD) post-hoc analysis test was then applied to identify specific group differences. The study’s findings reveal that the Hazagora game encourages an engaging, interactive environment that simplifies complex concepts, leading to improved learning efficacy and enjoyment. Compared to lectures, the game increases students’ engagement, knowledge retention, and understanding. The resilience scores showed a significant improvement, increasing from 18.6 to 31.5 (SD = 2.54, N = 30), after participants played Hazagora. In contrast, the lecture group demonstrated a moderate improvement, with scores rising from 20.17 to 24.47 (SD = 3.88, N = 30). This enhanced engagement promotes educational equity by offering an accessible, non-traditional learning path, ultimately strengthening community resilience by empowering informed young citizens. These findings suggest that serious games can be an effective educational tool, especially when teaching complex subjects, like disaster risk reduction, environmental sustainability, and climate change.
Jan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.