The aMAZE’eing adventures of Donkey Kong Introduction

In a world of 8-bit dominance and the never ending need for new challenges, the world needed a change. A change that would be invented by a plumber named Mario. His genius idea was to create a gaming platform that would evolve based on the users inputs PRE game, and dynamically create world maps, villans, and challenges. 

The idea was to create a game so infused with AI that it would be a platform that could be sold to gamers AND companies. If you simply needed to destroy some enemies, you would just prompt for a challenge, but if a COMPANY was seeking GAMIFICATION to do training, that would also be possible. 

Mario’s app wasn’t your typical training program. It didn’t cater solely to plumbers or princess-rescuers. No, it spanned across realms, tapping into the collective nostalgia of every pixelated hero, villain, and sidekick.

The Idea that sparked the team

“Toad,” Mario said one day, huddled in his workshop with Twilight Sparkle (unicorn from My Little Pony) and Han Solo (yes, the one and only smuggler from Star Wars). “We need a training solution that unites our universes. Something that prepares our heroes for any challenge—be it plumbing, magic, or intergalactic dogfights.”

“Listen up, team!” Mario declared, adjusting his red cap. “Each trainee encounters a villain. When they bump in to the villain, the chatbot pops out, asking them a question related to their training.

“And the answers?” Twilight Sparkle inquired, her horn glowing with curiosity.

“Ah, that’s where the magic happens,” Mario grinned. “The chatbot evaluates their responses. By changing asking open-ended questions the trainee will get deeper engagement, active learning and authentic assessment. The outcome will be better learning outcomes and meaningful skill development.

The trainees across realms played the game and the chatbot would exclaim “Congratulations! You’ve earned 100 experience points and a new skill tree unlocked! Now go save Equestria, restore peace to the galaxy, or rescue Princess Peach—your choice!”

And the multiverse thrived. Heroes swapped tips, villains grumbled about unfair questions, and sidekicks formed study groups. Even Darth Vader secretly took the quizzes (and aced them, though he’d never admit it).

The aMAZE’eing adventures of Donkey Kong APP first customer
Customer Challenge: 

Customer is a large global company with thousands of employees. Each year they have to complete several internal courses to be compliant within Health, Security and Diversity. Training was boring, and completion rates were so low that HR had to threaten users to complete. 

Solution:

Mario and the rest of the team introduced training GAMIFICATION to make the training a fun experience. Not only would it be fun, but it challenged the users to prove that they actually understood the subjects by having AI validate their answers. 

By leveraging their dynamic AI platform, they were able to make a game into a training arena where they would answer questions connected to Health and Safety, Diversity and Compliance instead of having to kill the villain. When reaching the villain they would have to answer a question within a selected category and then AI would approve the answer. If successful they would move on to next level and gain Point for the High Score. 

How the app works:

The first thing to do is enter your playing style

Navigate to your challenge and find the AI generated question related to your topic in the initial game setup. Each question is uniquely generated and will be based on promts that the company define.

AI will evaluate your answer to see if you have understood the assignment and then give you the appropriate response

Excellent user Experience:

The entire gaming platform user experience is meant to be both easy and fun to use. The AI generated 2D pixel art brings us back to a time where games were simple and fun, and we had to use our imagination as we moved our heroes through deep dungeons, dark forests, or bouncing on puffy clouds.

Anyone should be able to start and run the app and not have to worry about complex instructions or awkward user interfaces. The user will use a chatbot to enter their parameters, which will be used to generate the map, characters, and genre of the game, as well as question types based on the type of corporate training required.

From there the user selects their favorite game hero (beautiful people) and then is presented with the adventure map, where they need to seek out a hero to find out their next question in corporate learning.

Once the hero meets the quizmaster, they must answer (in text!) the quizmasters question. For good corporate learning, no simple “yes” or “no” type answers or multiple choices, they need to provide a well thought out answer to continue, in a simple, easy to use interface.

Once they see the result “Accepted” or “Denied”, they can continue on or try again.

In summary, the amazing, retro-style interface is sure to be a hit with end users and consumers of the solution!

Pandora’s box:

The combination of game customization, AI, and player input is innovative. Letting imaginations run free: Each player’s unique game world reflects their choices. The app isn’t just about gaming—it’s about transforming how employees learn. By combining AI, gaming, learning,  personalization, and engagement, we’ve opened Pandora’s Box of training possibilities.

Building games on the Microsoft Power Platform and Power Apps in particular were definitely NOT what the original engineers had in mind! While there are other platforms for building games like Unity, Gadot, and others, using Power Apps allows us to access Pandora’s box of connectors and services (see what I did there?) to build a unique fusion of technology to deliver not only an entertaining app, but a robust corporate training system as well as tapping into the latest AI technology. This trying delivers on the legendary Microsoft xRM campaign “One platform, infinity possibilities”

The above PowerFX code then generates a completely rando track based on the user input. This was really pushing our limits of understanding what was possible in Power Apps Canvas

Killer AI:

We truly engaged in killer AI in multiple elements of our solution. From a pure gaming perspective, instead of designing prescribed maps and mazes, we utilized Open AI to generate for us not only the map of varying levels of difficulty, but game assets such as walls, floors and characters based on preferences of the end user. (Our starting prompts were Super Mario, Star Wars and My Little Pony, while other favorite genres can be added at any time.   We also made the prompting available for power users to adjust to create their own experiences.

AI backbone generating our game

Questions being asked and answered by AI

Admin possibilities to modify the prompts that the AI utilize. All prompts are dynamic and open for changes by admins

We didn’t stop just at using AI to generate our game assets, we tapped into AI to help build out our corporate curriculum based on important topics. The AI will create questions on topics incorporated into the game. The users answers are evaluated by the AI to see if the learner truly grasped the concepts and can answer the question, beyond picking from a multiple choice!

Our killer AI concepts provide not only fun, but important tools to enhance corporate training!

Most Extreme Business Value
The business value of the game is giving the business value by making learning fun for the employees. By letting the players immerse themselves in a personalized gaming experience. While also changing out the boring repeating multiple choice questions with open ended-questions. 

 The common type of training with multiple choice questions does not give the employees a true understanding, is an ineffective form of learning and gives no practical value.

Our game utilizes AI to generate dynamic questions, offering a unique learning experience for each player. Specifically designed for internal training on compliance and privacy, it presents diverse challenges related to industry regulations and protocols.

The chatbot can easily be given more topics or change topics which enables the customization for every different business. The prompts to Chat GPT can also easily be changed or added which gives the business the ability to expand and change  the training material to different

positions and roles in the organization

As players navigate the game, AI-generated questions ensure a constantly changing set of scenarios. This prevents memorization, encouraging a deeper understanding of compliance matters and promoting a more engaging training experience.

Our  App game is a tool that addresses the need for effective compliance training. It’s not about hype; it’s about enhancing internal learning through an interactive and adaptive approach. Join us in exploring a new way to make compliance training more engaging and effective.

Businesses that embrace innovative training gain: 

• Employees equipped with practical knowledge.
• Faster onboarding and upskilling.
• Engaged employees stay longer.
• Ready for industry shifts and challenges.

The app’s principles can be applied universally:

–          Customization: Every industry has unique training needs. Just as players choose their game environment, businesses can adapt the app to their context (e.g., retail, healthcare, finance).

–          AI-Driven Content: AI-generated prompts can address specific job roles, compliance requirements, or safety protocols.

–          Employee Satisfaction: Happy employees perform better. Personalized training fosters satisfaction and skill development.

–          Scalability: Whether it’s a small startup or a multinational corporation, the app’s scalability ensures efficient training across the board.