Mainstream Games in the Multi-agent Classroom

Computer games make learning fun and support learning through doing. Edutainment software tries to capitalize on this however, it has failed in reaching the levels of motivation and engagement seen in mainstream games. In this context, we have integrated a mainstream first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike, into the curriculum of our Autonomous Agents and Multi-agent Systems course. In this paper we describe this integration and a platform to support the creation of Counter-Strike agents. In addition, a questionnaire was posed to our students to assess the success of our approach. Results show that students found the idea of applying a first-person- shooter game motivating and the integration with the curriculum useful for their education.