RPG games and Csikszentmihalyi's Flow theory

I chose to play Mission 2:  Flight to Freedom at the Mission US game site found at http://www.mission-us.org/ .  The game centered around the character Lucy and her life as a slave on a plantation in Kentucky.  She is 14 years old and lives with her mother and brother along with the other slaves on the plantation.  The game play starts out with you, as the character Lucy, doing regular chores and talking to people around the plantation.  Another slave named Henry has been hurt from being whipped by the overseer.  Everyone knows Henry is going to run away soon.  Since Henry is hurt Lucy must do some of his chores which includes tending the smokehouse fires.  Later on that evening the smokehouse catches fire and burns to the ground.   The overseer blames both Henry and Lucy and says they will get sold down south.  Being sold down south is a terrible punishment.  Henry and Lucy decide to run.  They gather all of the supplies they can and take off.  The goal is to make it north without getting caught.  All throughout the game play you make choices that effect Lucy's progress.  You can earn badges for different actions such as resisting the overseer and literacy smart words for reading the definitions of words in the story line.  Literacy smart words help make signs and books clear so you can read them.  Otherwise they are blurry.  I escaped, as Lucy, but always got caught.  I finally gave up after the 5th time.  There are so many options for each section it was hard for me to know where I went wrong and avoid getting caught once again.  That part was a little frustrating for me.  But most likely it was realistic since running away as a slave was difficult and high risk. 

Using Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory I analyzed the game.  Here are the results.

1.  Task that the learners can complete?  Yes, Lucy must complete small tasks in order to fullfill the overseers orders.  Each completed task builds the story line of the game.

2.  Ability to concentrate on task?  Yes, the characters draw the players in with their conversations.  The characters are animated so that the audio matches their movements and they interact with you as the character Lucy.  It is as if  you are Lucy. 

3.  Task has clear goals?  Yes, Lucy must gather badges and literacy smart words so that she can do more things in the game.  Lucy also gather objects to put in her pack when she runs away.  She gathered food, an axe, clothes and other items that will help her in the game.  When Lucy runs away her goal is to not get caught. 

4.  Task provides immediate feedback?  Yes, the choices you make have immediate consequences.  Some of them are game ending in fact especially when you are on the run.  Other choices can get a rebuke from the overseer, extra chores or can earn you badges or smart words. 

5.  Deep but effortless involvement?  No, this is as about as real as you can get.  While the setting is historical and not something we would see today the ideas are still realistic. 

6.  Exercising a sense of control over thier actions?  Each decision that you make leads Lucy down a path that is unique although all the paths lead Lucy to the critical moment when the smokehouse burns down.  When on the run Lucy has several choices of routes and then choices of what to do after choosing a route. 

7. Concern for self disappears during flow.  Yes, there were times in the game where I would take chances that if it were in real life I wouldn't have.  The simulations are realistic and provide life and death choices. 

8.  Sense of duration of time is altered?  Yes, the tasks Lucy performs are immediately accomplished but in reality would take hours.  I don't think it alters the perspecitve of time or distorts it for the player since it makes the game play feel active and engaging.  I don't know how much time I spent playing the game.  It was very engaging even after the repeated captures.