Trail Quest: Hiking Safety Meets Gamification

 From Desert Trails to Digital Learning

I recently relocated to Arizona from Florida. I quickly fell in love with the desert’s beauty—and along with that, discovered its hiking challenges. Extreme heat, dehydration, and unpredictable terrain can be serious risks for newcomers. Which my husband and I had to learn really quickly.

So when Tim Slade announced his July 2025 eLearning Challenge: Hiking Safety & Survival Techniques- it inspired me to create Trail Quest!- an interactive training designed to help hikers stay safe while exploring desert trails.

Why This Project Was Different

While this course is ultimately about hiking safety, it was also my personal sandbox for
innovation. I wanted to experiment with:

• Gamification mechanics (points, badges, tiered titles)
  
  
  
• Mighty’s custom-code integration for Rise
• CSS and JavaScript for unique, interactive elements
• AI tools like ChatGPT and Replit for rapid prototyping

It became a perfect blend of safety education and creative experimentation.

Inside the Course

Learners work through:

• Trail selection challenges
• Packing and hydration activities
• Heat illness recognition and response scenarios
• Point-earning decisions toward a personalized hiking badge

The whole experience is designed to feel like an adventure, not a lecture.

The Design Backbone

A desert-inspired style guide, custom badges, and a friendly trail guide character bring the visuals to life. I used an expanded outline instead of a traditional storyboard—allowing me to work quickly while still mapping out every scenario, gamified activity, and visual. 

What I Learned

As I reflect on building this course, there are a few things I'd like to improve on.  First, I realize that I ran out of time to really work on the point progression for each activity. I was able to figure out how many points each activity would get- but getting my HUD (Heads Up Display) to update with the correct actions was difficult.  I ended up linking the HUD to the continue button below each activity, which would give the learner points regardless of successful completion of an activity.  This isn't ideal for a real-life course, so figuring this out would be in my best interest if I want to implement something like this in the future.

I would also love to incorporate a leaderboard for learners who do score well in the game. I find a little friendly competition works (for those who enjoy competitions) and adds to the excitement of the activity.  Since my activities weren't calculated properly, I opted not to create one for this course, but I will be continuing to research how this can be implemented in other ways.

In summary, this project was as much about learning for me as it was for the course’s audience. I sharpened my coding skills, explored new gamification strategies, and proved (to myself!) how technology and creativity can make learning fun, immersive, and memorable. 

This project really drove home how technology, creativity, and instructional design can work together to make learning feel like anything but learning. - Karisa Cloutier, M. Ed.

 

See the Full Project

This is just a taste of Trail Quest.

To see the full course design process, detailed screenshots, and my behind-the-scenes approach, check out my portfolio page here.