Ozzy and the Oddity Kingdom: A Generative AI Visual Novel Educational Mobile Game

Students majoring in English for Professional Communication, enrolled in the Introduction to Critical Thinking course, often struggle to grasp abstract concepts such as barriers to critical thinking, inductive and deductive reasoning, and the identification of logical fallacies. To address this gap, Ozzy and the Oddity Kingdom was developed as a Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) solution that transforms these challenging ideas into an engaging, interactive experience. Built in Unity using C#, the game adopts a visual novel format set in a rich fantasy world, enhanced by high-quality, AI-generated resources created through Midjourney. The design incorporates gamification elements such as branching storylines, distinctive characters, a map-based navigation interface, and a variety of formative and summative assessments including drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, and word scrabble challenges. A reward-and-punishment system and scalable difficulty levels encourage sustained engagement while reinforcing learning objectives. The choice of Unity ensures cross-platform deployment on both iOS and Android with minimal production costs, making the project both practical and sustainable. Beyond its immediate application in critical thinking education, the framework is adaptable to other subject areas, opening pathways for wider adoption. Its market potential lies in its ability to serve as a supplementary learning tool that blends academic rigour with narrative-driven play, offering educators and learners an accessible, portable, and customisable resource for deepening understanding in diverse educational contexts.

mobile-assisted language learning, unity, generative ai

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