Packet Panic! A Text Adventure with Google Forms

I recently discovered that you can actually create text adventures directly in Google Forms (!) – and that’s pretty cool. Sure, Forms can't handle variables or remember player choices, but for simpler, choice-based games, it works surprisingly well. If you want more advanced features, there are tools like Twine – but this time I wanted to show how far you can get with just Google Forms.

The goal was to create a real game that could be used in the classroom. I started with a simple question to ChatGPT:

"I want to make a game that connects to STEM. I was thinking about how a computer works. Do you have a better idea? And this way of teaching a STEM subject through a text adventure – is that game-based learning?"

As you can see, I wasn’t thinking about standards or learning goals at that point. The important thing was to start testing the idea. ChatGPT and I turned every stone – four parallel chats and over 300 questions and answers later, the game started to take shape.

From Idea to Game-Based Learning

What I created follows the model of design thinking pedagogy:

1. Start with a question or problem area ("How does a computer work?" + STEM goals)

2. Create an engaging format (text adventure)

3. Develop the content iteratively with nodes, characters, and choices

4. Map learning goals and standards afterward

The result became Packet Panic! A digital adventure where the student plays as a data packet navigating a school network to deliver a file – quickly, securely, and before classmate Rasmus gets there first.

This is Game-Based Learning in practice:

• Interactive learning adventure

• Based on real-world tech (DNS, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, firewalls)

• Built-in problem solving, decision-making, and feedback

Looking to use Packet Panic in the classroom?

A full teacher guide is available with learning goals, discussion prompts, and classroom tips.

👉 Click here to view the guide

Social and Technical Learning at the Same Time

The game activates CASEL competencies without calling attention to it:

• Self-awareness: Students notice their choices – right/wrong, safe/risky

• Self-management: Time pressure (Rasmus), ownership of decisions

• Social awareness: Characters reflect different strategies and attitudes

• Relationship skills: Interaction between characters, dialogue with Tammie

• Responsible decision-making: Every choice has technical and narrative consequences

And the Best Part: It Aligns with Standards

We didn’t start with standards – but when we checked afterward, we hit many of them:

ISTE Student Standards

• Digital Citizen: Covers network safety, DNS errors, firewalls

• Computational Thinker: Players analyze network paths and test solutions

• Knowledge Constructor: Players build technical understanding through their choices

U.S. State Standards (Sample)

• Florida: Supports Career & Technical Education in ICT – concepts like DNS, DHCP, firewalls

• Washington: Aligns with Networks & Internet standards – IP, routing, DNS

• California: Matches CS Standards on devices, protocols, TLS, checksums

• Indiana: Covers Digital Citizenship and Computer Science – ethics, risk assessment, troubleshooting

Additional standard connections:

• ISTE: Digital Citizen – Teaches network security and digital consequences

• ISTE: Computational Thinker – Encourages logical reasoning and structured problem-solving

• ISTE: Knowledge Constructor – Reinforces key network concepts (e.g., TCP, DNS, TLS)

• Florida: ICT Education – Simulates real-world IT infrastructure and protocols

• Washington: Networks & Internet – Explores design, routing, and infrastructure

• California: CS Networks – Teaches foundational networking knowledge

• Indiana: Digital Citizenship – Fosters ethical use, safety, and resilience online

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Conclusion: 

You don’t have to start with standards to build meaningful teaching experiences. With a simple tool like Google Forms, you can build text-based games that engage, teach, and surprise.

Try it yourself – you’ll be amazed at how far you can go. I've written a separate guide on how to build one yourself using Google Forms – check it out if you want to create your own classroom adventure!

TeacherGaming Analytics

In mid November we did a field trip to TeacherGaming in Tampere together with the Finnish Swedish iLearning tutors. We had the honor to listen to COO Mikael Uusi-Mäkelä who talked about what happened after MinecraftEDU and showed us a very neat tool: TG Analytics!

To be able to monitoring your students while they play any game, connected to this analytic platform, would be like a dream come true. It will save so much time when following up students activities! Best of all, when you see what skills they have practice and which ones they have not, you should be able to push out that needed skill to their next log in. That was actually the feature that hooked me.

Back home I immediately contacted them and signed up as a beta tester.

And please keep this in mind; the platform is not ready!

You are a beta tester.

Some people might look at it and think it’s the complete product - which it's not - and leave it when they see something broken. When you see something broken you report it, that's why you are a beta tester!

With the experience I've got working with this kind of tools is, it has to fulfill mainly two things else teachers and schools won't start use it

1. The price has to be low.

With that said, usually 500€ sound expensive while 350 students which cost 2€/school year suddenly is affordable (even though the price just turned higher).

2. It has to be simple.

Teachers - or parents - learning curve has to be low. The tool has to be that simple so you could learn it within 5 minutes. Already to use tech usually stress teachers enough to avoid adopt them, no matter how awesome they might be!

However,  the games themselves can of course be advanced, Students and/or youth most often surprise the older generation ;)

Does TeacherGaming meets my requirements?

As they're in beta phase there's no price tag just yet, but what I've understand from my discussions with the dev team it won't be expensive. The tool itself will most probably be free but the games connected to the platform will cost some.

Simple.

I just love how simple, clean and easy it is.

First I log in to the platform and I create my class 

Simple right? I name the class, an ID is generated and now my class is up! Next, we add a student, it's as easy as create a class. We write the students name, and we also get a student id. 

The skill tree is another awesome feature. You should be able to pick your "own" curriculumno matter if you're teaching grade 1-3 in US or grade 4-6 in Sweden.

The Dashboard, it's where everything happens and you can follow your students (or childrens) progress. But hey? No games added yet? Nope, students havn't logged in so there's nothing to see.

But as I started a code thinking course, I'd like my student to play Switch&Glitch. I've installed the game on the device and now my student log in, using the class id and her student id. As soon as she, my student or actually daughter, are logged in to the game, real-time information will start to show up in TG Analytics. How awesome is that?

When I click on my student I will get up more information about the skills she's learning while playing the game!

Sounds interesting? 
Why don't sign up as a beta tester you too?

The product: the lustful learning

As a remedial teacher I usually gets those students who have one or more challenges (I refuse to say difficulties or problems!). Now I help one student and the more I talk with him, the more I start to wonder why we - the school system - insist on teaching like it would be 1980 and not 2016. Even if the Internet didn't exist throughout the teacher's life, there have been in our students' whole lives. 

This one student is judged by the 1980's methods and therefore he possesses not what the knowledge society requires. If you, on the other hand, use the methods of 2016 he actually master the skills needed more than many else.

According to traditional values, he has an abnormal and unhealthy interest in video games and no matter what he does, they consider it as dangerous gaming. Still, traditional thinking, he needs help and support in mathematics, physics, languages, social situations. He can't handle money (he doesn't understand the value of money), can't hold times, can't think logical, need a calculator and the list goes on and on and on...

When I first met him, the Fall of 2014, he was top 20 in the European league of "World of Tanks" and besides that also second in rank in his clan (including set up strategy's, handle price money and be the ambassador). Now, he has stepped down from the active gaming and instead run the whole clan by himself. 

Just to check if he was aware of what he's doing I showed him the school's organizational chart and asked him to tell me, based on this, how his organization looks. Hardly surprising, he placed his organization in the right places; CEO, deputy CEO, management, economy and so on. He also explained how he pay wages (in game money) to his whole clan (approx 75 people), the bonus system he use for unsocial hours (if they get attacked for example 04:00) and more. "doesn't understand the value of money"!? What a rubbish nonsense!

So, as you all understand, this is a guy that learn in a different way but in a way I think will be only more common. And just because they do learn a different way it's not because they are stupid.

But today, 2016, the school ain't ready for those students so therefor we're back at square one. Here we need the remedial teacher (me)...

According to regulations I should ask the owner of the course (who use traditional methods) about course content to use on this student to help him understand the things in an outdated view. To clarify: it is not up to me to interpret the curriculum. 

But now it felt so wrong, I over ruled the regulations and went to my supervisor and asked; do I help this guy as the individual teacher wants or can I interpret the curriculum myself? 

For the record, it's very clear in the curriculum what you need to know so there's no law broken, but different interpretations juxtapose.

I got the decision: interpret yourself as it won't work otherwise.

Now, to my lot, I have math and physics. I would actually have to have even the language, because if you're not from the start English-speaking, you become it through computer games.

And here's the funny thing; when you use games in education, you not only teach one course at a time. You can combine, you can do both, you can learn more, you can learn faster and suddenly you also have the lustful learning. The desire to learn and the desire to understand. 

Because it's fun. 

The environment is safe; therefor you can relax and start to learn.

So math and physics. 

And Minecraft. 

Because Minecraft is "AWWSOME!"

Even if you're 18 years old.

To be able to solve the physics we have to start with math. And survival (great choice!) as it's more fun. Yes, more fun and math is present all the way!

"1 coal smelts 8 blocks of iron ore. Burning time of one coal is 80 seconds while burning time of one lava bucket is 920 seconds more. What is the burning time of one lava bucket?" (from the Gameplay Publishing "Minecraft Maths")

It was an easy one; 920+80=1000 seconds.

Next examples are my own, not from the book!

But next one, according to the reports, he would need a calculator: How many minutes is 1000 seconds?

In his head he calculated 16 minutes.

And he had to explain.

"60 seconds multiplied with 10 is 600 seconds. Then I know I have 400 seconds left. 60 multiplied with 6 is 360 seconds. That's 16 minutes. Then of course you have another 40 seconds, so 16 min and 40 seconds if I have to be exact!"

He continued: "if we assume I can fill/empty the furnace constantly I will get 100 iron ingots after one lava bucket, as the burning time for one ingot is 10 seconds"

Now the idea is that we should do the physics part: velocity calculations and for that we have created racing tracks. We will measure how long it will take to walk, run, ride horse, swim, use boat and use minecart for 100 blocks (100 metres). We have already talked about cars speed, your walk speed and so on, but next week we'll figure out how to also do the calculations.