Designing Computer Games to Teach Algorithms

Data structures and algorithms are important foundation topics in computer science education. However, they are often complex and hard to understand. Therefore, we introduce a new learning strategy that benefits from computer games´ popularity and engagement to help students understand algorithms better by designing computer games that visualize algorithms. To teach an algorithm, an educational computer game, namely an algorithm game, must have a game-play that simulates the behavior of the visualized algorithm and graphics depict the features of its data structure.