The use of games as interventions in the domain of health care is of-ten paired with evaluating the effects in randomized clinical trials. The iterative design and development process of games usually also involves an evaluation phase, aimed at identifying improvements for subsequent iterations. Since game design theory and theories from associated fields provide no unified framework for designing successful interventions, interpreting evaluation results and for-mulating improvements is complicated. This case study explores an approach of monitoring design decisions and corresponding theories throughout the design and development cycle, allowing evaluation results to be attributed to design decisions. Such an approach may allow the game design and development pro-cess to iterate the game more efficiently towards use in practice.3rd European Conference on Gaming and Playful Interaction in Health Care.
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The authors used the INFRASTRATEGO simulation game to examine strategic behavior in a liberalizing electricity market and the effectiveness of different regulatory regimes in dealing with this strategic behavior. The game simulates the Dutch electricity market in the years 2002 to 2006. The game was played eight times with about 400 players, both professionals and students. Two regulatory regimes defined by (a) the policy-making model and (b) the regulation by negotiation model were evaluated. The authors found several patterns of strategic behavior such as regulatory capture, sometimes with rather disturbing effects with regard to the settlement of rates and long-term capacity planning.
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The authors present the background and results of an explorative en'aluation of the use Serious Games (SG) in a Master’s level course in entrepreneurship at TU Delft in the Netherlands. The wain questions concern the extent to which the use of SGs contributes to entrepreneurship (or learning related to entrepreneurship), as well as the factors that determine its contributions. In 2012, three different SGs were played, involving 28 international MSc students who registered for a one-year specialisation track in ‘Entrepreneurship ’. This article presents the research model, the quasi-experimental design of the evaluation, the evaluation instruments and the results. The authors conclude that personality traits, motivation and previous gaming experience might significantly influence the perceived effects on entrepreneurship after the training, although the actual game-play does not. These results contribute to the discussion regarding the use of serious games for entrepreneurship, given the possibility that SGs have a pedagogical bias towards game-savvy, motivated, high-achieving males.
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Design and development practitioners such as those in game development often have difficulty comprehending and adhering to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), especially when designing in a private sensitive way. Inadequate understanding of how to apply the GDPR in the game development process can lead to one of two consequences: 1. inadvertently violating the GDPR with sizeable fines as potential penalties; or 2. avoiding the use of user data entirely. In this paper, we present our work on designing and evaluating the “GDPR Pitstop tool”, a gamified questionnaire developed to empower game developers and designers to increase legal awareness of GDPR laws in a relatable and accessible manner. The GDPR Pitstop tool was developed with a user-centered approach and in close contact with stakeholders, including practitioners from game development, legal experts and communication and design experts. Three design choices worked for this target group: 1. Careful crafting of the language of the questions; 2. a flexible structure; and 3. a playful design. By combining these three elements into the GDPR Pitstop tool, GDPR awareness within the gaming industry can be improved upon and game developers and designers can be empowered to use user data in a GDPR compliant manner. Additionally, this approach can be scaled to confront other tricky issues faced by design professionals such as privacy by design.
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An increasing number of studies support a mediating influence of personality on video-game preferences and player experiences, and in particular, traits associated with playfulness, such as extraversion. Educational institutions, however, tend to reward serious personality traits, such as conscientiousness. Aim.To discern how students respond to Game-Based Learning (GBL) in the classroom, and to understand if and how conscientiousness mediates GBL, we performed a field study at a leading university of technology in northeast China. Method. In May 2019, 60 bachelor and executive students in public-administration studies consecutively played two digital serious games, TEAMUP (multiplayer) and DEMOCRACY3 (single player). Data accrued through surveys with pregame measurements of personality (conscientiousness), mediating factors (motivation, player experience), learning effectiveness (cognitive and non-cognitive learning), and GBL acceptance. Results. Analysis showed a strong overall learning effect for both games. Conscientiousness significantly related to cognitive learning in both games and noncognitive learning in the multiplayer game only. Conscientiousness also significantly related to player experiences in the multiplayer game. Furthermore, the conscientiousness facet of perfectionism was a dominant factor in player experience and learning. We discuss the findings in light of several aspects around GBL that require more attention and research, especially that, alongside other factors, conscientiousness may be an important dimension to consider in the design and implementation of GBL in education, and GBL can have a positive role in the modernization of education in non-Western countries
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The authors present the study design and main findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation of the learning efficacy of the Serious Game (SG) 'Hazard Recognition' (HR). The SG-HR is a playable, two-level demonstration version for training supervisors who work at oil and gas drilling sites. The game has been developed with a view to developing a full-blown, game-based training environment for operational safety in the oil and gas industry. One of the many barriers to upscaling and implementing a game for training is the questioned learning efficacy of the game. The authors therefore conducted a study into the game's learning efficacy and the factors that contribute to it. The authors used a Framework for Comparative Evaluation (FCE) of SG, and combined it with the Kowalski model for Hazard Detection and the Noel Burch competence model. Four experimental game sessions were held, two involving 60 professionals working in the oil and gas industry, and two with engineering students and consultants. Relevant constructs were operationalized and data were gathered using pre and post-game questionnaires. The authors conclude that the SG-HR improves players' skills and knowledge on hazard detection and assessment, and it facilitates significant learning efficacy in this topic. The FCE proved very helpful for setting up the evaluation and selecting the constructs.
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The authors define the requirements and a conceptual model for comparative evaluation research of simulation games and serious games (SGs) in a learning context. A first operationalisation of the model was used to comparatively evaluate a suite of 14 SGs on varying topics played between 2004 and 2009 in 13 institutes of higher education in the Netherlands. The questions in this research were: what is the perceived learning effectiveness of the games and what factors explain it? How can we comparatively evaluate games for learning? Data were gathered through pre- and post-game questionnaires among 1000 students, leading to 500 useful datasets and 230 complete datasets for analysis (factor analysis, scaling, t-test and correlation analysis) to give an explorative, structural model. The findings are discussed and a number of propositions for further research are formulated. The conclusion of the analysis is that the students' motivation and attitudes towards game-based learning before the game, their actual enjoyment, their efforts during the game and the quality of the facilitator/teacher are most strongly correlated with their learning satisfaction. The degree to which the experiences during the game were translated back into the underlying theories significantly determines the students' learning satisfaction. The quality of the virtual game environment did not matter so much. The authors reflect upon the general methodology used and offer suggestions for further research and development.
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The author presents the methodological backgrounds and underlying research design of an on-going scientific research project concerned with the scientific evaluation of serious games and/or computer-based simulation-games (SG) for advanced learning. The main questions of this research project are: 1. what are the requirements and design principles for a comprehensive social-scientific methodology for the evaluation of SG? 2. To what extend does SG contribute to advanced learning? 3. What factors contribute to, or determine this learning? 4. To what extend and under what conditions can SGbased learning be transferred to the real world (RW)? Between 2004 and 2012, several hundreds of SG-sessions in the Netherlands with twelve different SG were evaluated systematically, uniformly and quantitatively to give a data-set of 2100 respondents in higher education and in work-organizations. The author presents the research model, the quasi-experimental design and evaluation instruments. This focus in this article is on methodology and data-set to establish a proper foundation for forthcoming publications on empirical results.
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The design of health game rewards for preadolescents Videogames are a promising strategy for child health interventions, but their impact can vary depending on the game mechanics used. This study investigated achievement-based ‘rewards’ and their design among preadolescents (8-12 years) to assess their effect and explain how they work. In a 2 (game reward achievement system: social vs. personal) x 2 (game reward context: in-game vs. out-game) between-subjects design, 178 children were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Findings indicated that a ‘personal’ achievement system (showing one’s own high scores) led to more attention and less frustration than a ‘social’ achievement system (showing also high scores of others) which, in turn, increased children’s motivation to make healthy food choices. Furthermore, ‘out’-game rewards (tangible stickers allocated outside the game environment) were liked more than ‘in’-game rewards (virtual stickers allocated in the game environment), leading to greater satisfaction and, in turn, a higher motivation to make healthy food choices.
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This paper examines how a serious game approach could support a participatory planning process by bringing stakeholders together to discuss interventions that assist the development of sustainable urban tourism. A serious policy game was designed and played in six European cities by a total of 73 participants, reflecting a diverse array of tourism stakeholders. By observing in-game experiences, a pre- and post -game survey and short interviews six months after playing the game, the process and impact of the game was investigated. While it proved difficult to evaluate the value of a serious game approach, results demonstrate that enacting real-life policymaking in a serious game setting can enable stakeholders to come together, and become more aware of the issues and complexities involved with urban tourism planning. This suggests a serious game can be used to stimulate the uptake of academic insights in a playful manner. However, it should be remembered that a game is a tool and does not, in itself, lead to inclusive participatory policymaking and more sustainable urban tourism planning. Consequently, care needs to be taken to ensure inclusiveness and prevent marginalization or disempowerment both within game-design and the political formation of a wider participatory planning approach.
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