Virsa: engaging children with Pakistani culture through interactive play

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the research and design process conducted in the designing of ‘Virsa’, a tabletop game that aims to educate Pakistani children about the material cultural heritage of their country. The paper aims to cover the aspects of primary and secondary research, as well as ideation and prototyping of the game. It focuses on two main concepts, one that focuses on the material culture of Pakistan, and the other that aims to understand children’s behavior towards educational material, child-centric design, and play-based education. It establishes the position of ‘Virsa’ being a successful medium to educate and expose young Pakistanis to their indigenous material culture.