[REVIEW]: Elena: Open Source JavaScript Game Engine for Educators

[editorialbot]

Submitting author: @thejackal360 (Roman Parise)
Repository: https://github.com/thejackal360/Elena-Game-Engine
Branch with paper.md (empty if default branch):
Version: Alpha
Editor: @rougier
Reviewers: @dpshelio, @ifilot
Archive: Pending
Paper kind: software

Status

Status badge code:

HTML: <a href="https://jose.theoj.org/papers/38544606a0e1db085094335b8d8b5c47"><img src="https://jose.theoj.org/papers/38544606a0e1db085094335b8d8b5c47/status.svg"></a>
Markdown: [![status](https://jose.theoj.org/papers/38544606a0e1db085094335b8d8b5c47/status.svg)](https://jose.theoj.org/papers/38544606a0e1db085094335b8d8b5c47)

Reviewers and authors:

Please avoid lengthy details of difficulties in the review thread. Instead, please create a new issue in the target repository and link to those issues (especially acceptance-blockers) by leaving comments in the review thread below. (For completists: if the target issue tracker is also on GitHub, linking the review thread in the issue or vice versa will create corresponding breadcrumb trails in the link target.)

Reviewer instructions & questions

@dpshelio & @ifilot, your review will be checklist based. Each of you will have a separate checklist that you should update when carrying out your review.
First of all you need to run this command in a separate comment to create the checklist:

@editorialbot generate my checklist

The reviewer guidelines are available here: https://openjournals.readthedocs.io/en/jose/reviewer_guidelines.html. Any questions/concerns please let @rougier know.

✨ Please start on your review when you are able, and be sure to complete your review in the next six weeks, at the very latest ✨

Checklists

📝 Checklist for @ifilot

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Reference check summary (note 'MISSING' DOIs are suggestions that need verification):

✅ OK DOIs

- 10.20368/1971-8829/1072 is OK
- 10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5 is OK
- 10.21105/joss.04306 is OK

🟡 SKIP DOIs

- No DOI given, and none found for title: Flask web development: developing web applications...
- No DOI given, and none found for title: H5P - Create and Share Rich Content and Applicatio...
- No DOI given, and none found for title: Twine: An Open-Source Tool for Telling Interactive...

❌ MISSING DOIs

- None

❌ INVALID DOIs

- None

[editorialbot]

Repository Analysis Report

Code breakdown

github.com/AlDanial/cloc v 1.98  T=0.13 s (558.9 files/s, 494442.4 lines/s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Language                     files          blank        comment           code
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSS                             18           8175            144          35492
JavaScript                      23           3603           2011          13149
Python                           9            138            232            566
Markdown                         7            139              0            399
HTML                             5             32              8            235
JSON                             4              0              0             80
Text                             4             11              0             64
TeX                              1              5              0             47
TOML                             1              2              0             30
YAML                             1              1              0             18
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUM:                            73          12106           2395          50080
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commit Count by Author

40	thejackal360
    19	gdetor
     7	Roman Parise
     2	Georgios Is. Detorakis

Repository History

Repository age: First commit on October 08, 2022

Code distribution (top 3 48-hour windows):

Period	Insertions	% of Total	Signal	View Changes
Dec 08, 2023 - Dec 10, 2023	125126	33.1%	🟡	View diff
Nov 09, 2023 - Nov 11, 2023	124311	32.9%	🟡	View diff
Nov 17, 2023 - Nov 19, 2023	124549	32.9%	🟡	View diff

GitHub Activity Metrics

Metric	Count
GitHub stars	0
Forks	0
GitHub contributors	2
Releases	0
Total issues	31
Total pull requests	26
Unique commenters/reviewers (excluding authors)	0

[editorialbot]

Paper file info:

📄 Wordcount for paper.md is 1370

✅ The paper includes a Statement of need section

[editorialbot]

License info:

✅ License found: MIT License (Valid open source OSI approved license)

[editorialbot]

👉📄 Download article proof 📄 View article proof on GitHub 📄 👈

[ifilot]

Review checklist for @ifilot

Conflict of interest

• As the reviewer I confirm that I have read the JOSE conflict of interest policy and that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work.

Code of Conduct

• I confirm that I read and will adhere to the JOSE code of conduct.

General checks

• Repository: Is the source code for this software available at the https://github.com/thejackal360/Elena-Game-Engine?
• License: Does the repository contain a plain-text LICENSE file with the contents of an OSI approved software license?
• Version: Does the release version given match the GitHub release?
• Authorship: Has the submitting author (@thejackal360) made substantial contributions to the software? Does the full list of paper authors seem appropriate and complete?

Functionality

• Installation: Does installation proceed as outlined in the documentation? (and documentation is sufficient?)
• Functionality: Have the functional claims of the software been confirmed?
• Performance: If there are any performance claims of the software, have they been confirmed? (If there are no claims, please check off this item.)

Documentation

• A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state the need for this software and who the target audience is?
• Installation instructions: Is there a clearly stated list of dependencies? (Ideally these should be handled with an automated package management solution.)
• Example usage: Do the authors include examples of how to use the software?
• Functionality documentation: Is the core functionality of the software documented to a satisfactory level (e.g., API method documentation)?
• Tests: Are there automated tests or manual steps described so that the function of the software can be verified?
• Community guidelines: Are there clear guidelines for third parties wishing to 1) Contribute to the software 2) Report issues or problems with the software 3) Seek support

Software paper

• Authors: Does the paper.md file include a list of authors with their affiliations?
• A statement of need: Do the authors clearly state the need for this software and who the target audience is?
• References: Do all archival references that should have a DOI list one (e.g., papers, datasets, software)?

[ifilot]

Summary

Elena is presented as a Flask-based Python library for creating browser-based, chatbot-style educational trivia games. Instructors define lessons using HTML lab manuals and JSON question sets, and can optionally extend the game loop with custom JavaScript minigames. The paper positions Elena as a code-based alternative to graphical authoring tools such as H5P or Twine, aimed at educators with some Python/JavaScript knowledge who want to prototype and adapt gamified learning activities quickly.

The paper motivates the project through the broader need for reusable tools that make educational game design easier to experiment with. Its example use case is drawn from STEM laboratory teaching, including temperature-control and bacterial culture trivia modules, with optional minigames such as bonus rounds and neural style-transfer art generation. The architecture combines a Flask backend with a JavaScript/jQuery frontend: the backend organizes modules, questions, routes, and custom packet handling, while the frontend implements the chatbot game loop and browser interaction.

Overall, the project is promising as an educational framework, especially for instructors who want a programmable scaffold rather than a fully graphical tool. My review notes below focus mainly on reproducibility, dependency management, template robustness, documentation for new educators, testing, and clarifying the boundary between the core engine and the bundled example application.

These notes are organized around the open items in the JOSE reviewer checklist.

General checks

Version

• Clarify the project version and release maturity. The JOSE submission lists the version as "Alpha", the README recommends installing elena-game-engine==0.0.1, and the package metadata identifies version 0.0.2. These do not match. In addition, a 0.0.2 version number may give readers and users the impression that the software is still extremely premature, which sits awkwardly with a journal submission. Please make the JOSE submission metadata, README, PyPI release, GitHub release, and repository metadata consistent, and consider choosing a version label that accurately communicates the project's current maturity.

Repository hygiene

• Consider cleaning up stale branches from previous review work. This is not a blocking issue, but removing obsolete branches would make the repository easier to navigate and reduce confusion for reviewers and future contributors.

Functionality

Installation

• The default PyPI installation does not appear to be reproducible. Installing elena-game-engine==0.0.2 can install Flask 2.0.0 alongside an incompatible Werkzeug 3.x, causing the package to fail at import time. The package metadata should either pin a compatible Werkzeug version, for example Werkzeug<3, or update Flask and test against current dependency versions. The README requirements and package metadata should be kept consistent.

• Clarify that PyTorch is optional. PyTorch appears to be used only for the neural style-transfer example or minigame, rather than for the core Elena engine. Please separate core dependencies from optional example/ML dependencies. For example, the base package could install only the engine requirements, while style-transfer support could be provided through an optional extra such as elena-game-engine[style-transfer].

• Remove unused ML dependencies. torchaudio is listed in the example requirements, but I could not find code that uses it. If it is not required, please remove it. This would substantially reduce installation size and complexity.

• Split dependency files by purpose. Consider maintaining separate dependency sets for core package dependencies, example app dependencies, test/development dependencies, and optional ML/style-transfer dependencies. This would make installation easier for educators who only want to build standard trivia games and do not need neural style transfer.

• Update and test dependency pins. Several dependencies are pinned to older releases, including Flask 2.0.0, matplotlib 3.5.1, and PyTorch 2.1.0. Please test against current supported versions, loosen pins where appropriate, or explain why strict older pins are necessary.

• Review bundled assets and package size. The repository and package include multiple .pth neural style-transfer model files. Since these are not core to Elena, consider moving them out of the base package or documenting why they are bundled.

Functionality

• Review the provided project template, which appears to produce a fragile or partially broken frontend for new Elena projects. I tested a minimal new Elena app by following the documented pattern of copying the src/elena/static and src/elena/templates directories into a fresh project. Several issues appeared before adding any substantial custom functionality.

• Fix or remove unused Buefy scripts in the default template. The default template loads Buefy component scripts but does not appear to load the required Vue runtime. This produces browser console errors such as Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'defineComponent'). These scripts are included in both the engine template and the example template, but the minimal app does not use Buefy. I recommend either removing these unused Buefy scripts from the default template or documenting and loading the required Vue/Buefy dependencies correctly.

• Replace the remote Wikimedia image used for the back button. When this image cannot be loaded, the browser displays the long attribution text from the image's alt attribute directly in the UI, which visibly breaks the page layout. I recommend replacing this with a local asset, an inline SVG/icon, or a simple text/button element.

• Make the default CSS more reusable and responsive. It currently uses large fixed bubble widths, large fixed text sizes, uppercase text, large shadows, and viewport-scaled body fonts. In a minimal new app, this made the layout appear garbled or poorly scaled. I recommend making the default CSS more responsive and conservative, especially if the package is intended as a reusable educational game framework.

• Improve the default chat pacing. The frontend displays queued messages at a fixed 7-second interval, so multi-message responses can take tens of seconds before the user can continue. This may be frustrating in an educational setting, especially for short trivia interactions. Consider reducing the interval substantially, making it configurable, or advancing messages based on animation completion or user interaction rather than a hard-coded delay.

Documentation

Installation instructions

• Improve installation instructions. The README currently recommends direct pip installation but does not guide users toward a virtual environment. Please add explicit instructions using python -m venv, activation commands for common platforms, and python -m pip install ....

• Provide a clearly stated list of dependencies, separated by purpose. The documentation should distinguish core package dependencies, example app dependencies, test/development dependencies, and optional ML/style-transfer dependencies.

• Add a supported-version matrix. Please document the Python versions, operating systems, and browsers that are currently supported and tested. This is especially important for educational users who may have limited technical support.

• Refresh stale platform/deployment guidance. The README references Heroku-20 and Python 3.6-era deployment files. Heroku-20 and Python 3.6 are now end-of-life. Please update deployment guidance to currently supported platforms/stacks, or clearly mark Heroku support as historical.

• Modernize deployment/security notes. Some Heroku-specific comments and filesystem assumptions remain in the example app. Please update these sections for current deployment practices and avoid presenting historical cloud-specific behavior as general guidance.

Example usage

• Document how to run the example app reproducibly. The example instructions should include all required steps, including installing example requirements, running from the correct directory, and any setup needed for Playwright tests. If tests require browser binaries, document the relevant playwright install command.

• Add a small getting-started tutorial for new projects. The README explains the broad concept, but users would benefit from a step-by-step "create your first Elena project" guide that walks through creating a minimal Elena project from scratch, including the expected directory layout and required static/html, static/questions, static/js/games, template, and static files.

• Review the default scaffolding and frontend assets as part of improving usability and reproducibility for educators. The frontend issues noted above are not specific to a custom minigame implementation; they arise from the default Elena templates/static files that the documentation instructs new users to copy.

Functionality documentation

• Expand the documentation beyond a single README.md file. The current documentation appears to be concentrated in one README, which makes it difficult for new users to distinguish installation, concepts, API usage, examples, deployment notes, and troubleshooting. I recommend adding clearer documentation using a standard documentation tool such as Sphinx, MkDocs, or another lightweight documentation generator. A small docs/ directory or hosted documentation site with separate pages for installation, core concepts, API/functionality, examples, deployment, and troubleshooting would make the project easier to use and review.

• Document the generated files. The engine generates JavaScript and CSS files at runtime. Please document which files are generated, where they are written, whether users should commit them, and what happens if the target directories do not exist.

• Clarify the educational scope. It would help readers if the documentation distinguished between core Elena engine functionality and example educational content. This would make it clearer what educators are expected to reuse, modify, or replace.

• Document answer-checking limitations. Answer checking is currently based on exact normalized string equality rather than regular expressions, fuzzy matching, or semantic matching. The normalization removes only the articles "the" and "a", removes spaces by concatenation, and lowercases text. This is brittle for educational use: small typos, punctuation, alternate spellings, synonyms, plurals, and equivalent phrasing are marked incorrect. The authors should document this limitation and consider supporting acceptable-answer lists, regex patterns, edit-distance thresholds, or instructor-defined custom answer validators.

Tests

• Improve testing guidance. The current test appears to be a browser interaction script rather than a conventional automated test suite. Please clarify what it verifies, how to run it headlessly, and whether it is intended for CI.

• Add smaller unit tests for the Python engine behavior. This would strengthen maintainability and make it easier to test behavior independently from the browser-based example app.

• Add the test suite to GitHub Actions. Running the automated tests in CI would make it easier to verify pull requests, catch dependency breakage, and demonstrate to reviewers that the documented installation and core functionality remain reproducible.

Software paper

Authors

• Confirm the intended author affiliation wording. The paper lists the authors as independent researchers, which is somewhat unconventional for a software paper. This may be the intended affiliation, but the paper also indicates that the software was tested in a classroom/seminar setting, so some kind of educational or institutional context seems to have been involved. Please check whether the affiliation information is complete and accurately reflects the context of the work.

A statement of need

• Clarify the intended learner audience. From the examples and use case, Elena appears aimed at post-secondary STEM education, especially lab/seminar contexts where instructors with some Python/JavaScript knowledge want to build browser-based trivia games to reinforce technical material. If the authors intend a broader audience, such as K-12, informal outreach, or general education, they should state this explicitly and provide examples appropriate to those levels.

• Clarify in the paper, not only the repository documentation, what belongs to the reusable Elena engine and what belongs to the bundled example educational content. This would make the statement of need and scope clearer for readers.