© Springer International Publishing AG 2016. A serious game needs to combine a number of different aspects to help the end user in reaching the desired effects. This requires incorporating a broad range of different aspects in the design, stemming from a broad range of different fields of expertise. For designers, developers, researchers, and other stakeholders it is not straightforward how to organize the design and development process, to make sure that these aspects are properly addressed. In this chapter we will discuss a number of ways of organizing the design and development process and various models that support specific design decisions during this process, concluding with a discussion of design patterns for serious games.
DOCUMENT
Fysiotherapie en/of manuele therapie spelen een belangrijke rol in de zorg voor mensen met lage rugpijn. Om de kwaliteit van deze zorg te verbeteren is een richtlijn ontwikkeld die vervolgens geïmplementeerd dient te worden. Technologische innovaties zoals serious games kunnen een rol spelen bij de implementatie van deze richtlijn. In een gerandomiseerde gecontroleerde studie is onderzocht in hoeverre een serious game de implementatie van een richtlijn lage rugpijn bevorderd. Achtenveertig fysiotherapeuten/manueel therapeuten zijn at random toegewezen aan een serious game groep of een groep die voorlichting kreeg over de richtlijn. Uitkomstmaten in deze studie zijn de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn (vignettentoets), ervaren knelpunten van implementatie, de mening van de deelnemer over de wijze van implementeren, en de mate waarin de richtlijn is gelezen en wordt toegepast in de praktijk naar eigen inschatting van de deelnemer. Na zes weken follow-up is er geen significant effect gevonden van de serious game op de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn (0,4 punten op 100 puntsschaal; 95% betrouwbaarheidsinterval -4,0 tot 4,8) ten opzichte van de voorlichtingsgroep. Ook voor de andere uitkomsten werden geen statistisch significante effecten gevonden. Het introduceren van een serious game had derhalve geen groter effect op de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn lage rugpijn dan voorlichting.
LINK
In deze rede wil ik ingaan op de paradox van serious games. Over het spel en de knikkers. Het lijkt tegenstrijdig dat je met een spel naast plezier ook serieuze verandering of kennisoverdracht wilt bewerkstelligen. De paradox gaat echter nog een stap verder, want voor wie is het spel eigenlijk en van wie zijn dan de knikkers. In ons vakgebied is de partij die het spel ontwikkelt veelal een andere dan de partij die het spel speelt en zelfs binnen de partij van potentiële spelers wordt er gewezen naar medespelers: “het zou toch zo goed zijn voor de buurman"
DOCUMENT
Most educational or training games, also referred to as serious games, have been developed without an underlying design theory. In order to make a contribution to the development of such a theory, we present the underlying design philosophy of Levee Patroller, a 3D first-person game used to train levee patrollers in the Netherlands. This approach stipulates that the design of a serious game is a multi-objective problem where trade-offs need to be made. Making these trade-offs takes place in a 'design space' defined by three general boundary criteria: 1. fun (game), 2. learning (pedagogy), and 3. validity (reality). The various tensions between these three criteria make it difficult to 'balance' or create harmony in a serious game. We illustrate this process with a discussion on the design of Levee Patroller. In addition, we translate the aforementioned general design criteria into a number of concrete design requirements for serious games.
DOCUMENT
An important step in the design of an effective educational game is the formulation of the to-be-achieved learning goals. The learning goals help shape the content and the flow of the entire game, i.e. they provide the basis for choosing the game’s core (learning) mechanics. A mistake in the formulation of the learning goals or the resulting choice in game mechanics can have large consequences, as the game may not lead to the intended effects. At the moment, there are many different methods for determining the learning goals; they may be derived by a domain expert, based on large collections of real-life data, or, alternatively, not be based on anything in particular. Methods for determining the right game mechanics range from rigid taxonomies, loose brainstorming sessions, to, again, not any method in particular. We believe that for the field of educational game design to mature, there is a need for a more uniform approach to establishing the learning goals and translating them into relevant and effective game activities. This paper explores two existing, non-game design specific, methods to help determine learning goals and the subsequent core mechanics: the first is through a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA), which can be used to analyse and formalize the problem and the knowledge, skills, attitudes that it is comprised of, and the second is through the Four Components Instructional Design (4C-ID), which can be used to determine how the task should be integrated into an educational learning environment. Our goal is to see whether these two methods provide the uniform approach we need. This paper gives an overview of our experiences with these methods and provides guidelines for other researchers on how these methods could be used in the educational game design process.
DOCUMENT
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.
MULTIFILE
In this chapter, we propose an ethical framework for serious game design, which we term the Ecosystem for Designing Games Ethically (EDGE).EDGE expands on Zagal’s categorization of ethical areas in game design by incorporating the different contexts of design and their use. In addition, we leverage these contexts to suggest four guidelines that support Ethical Stewardship in serious game design. We conclude by discussing a number of specific areas inwhich ethics plays a role in serious game design. These include games in (a) amilitary context, (b) the consideration of privacy issues, and (c) the evaluation ofgame design choices.
DOCUMENT
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.
DOCUMENT
To experience and appreciate the challenges involved in marine spatial planning (MSP), students enrolled in two MSP courses play stakeholder roles in a realistic serious game. The serious game is played with the participatory online MSP tool SeaSketch, and tackles the contemporary Dutch marine renewable energy challenge.
DOCUMENT
This paper introduces a creative approach aimed at empowering desk-bound occupational groups to address the issue of physical inactivity at workplaces. The approach involves a gamified toolkit called Workplace Vitality Mapping (WVM) (see Figure 1) designed to encourage self-reflection in sedentary contexts and foster the envision of physical vitality scenarios. This hybrid toolkit comprises two main components: A Card Game (on-site) for context reflection and a Co-design Canvas (Online) for co-designing vitality solutions. Through the card games, participants reflect on key sedentary contexts, contemplating their preferable physical vitality scenarios with relevant requirements. The co-design canvas facilitates the collaborative construction and discussion of vitality scenarios’ development. The perceptions and interactions of the proposed toolkit from the target group were studied and observed through a hybrid workshop, which demonstrated promising results in terms of promoting participants’ engagement experience in contextual reflections and deepening their systemic understanding to tackle the physical inactivity issue. As physical inactivity becomes an increasingly pressing concern, this approach offers a promising participatory way for gaining empathetic insights toward community-level solutions.
DOCUMENT
