Abstract

Serious game design presents a unique challenge to researchers and developers alike. The most successful games are designed by integrating two disparate bodies of knowledge: training and education, and high-quality game design. Simply pairing instructional elements with traditional game elements, however, is often inadequate. In an attempt to improve serious game design, we review several effective instructional mechanisms extracted from the science of learning literature and discuss ways that they can be directly implemented in games. We make explicit suggestions as to how serious games should be designed with respect to core elements of gameplay, sensory and perceptual elements, and cognitively focused elements.

The “Whys” and “Hows” of Serious Games

Sitting in the quiet glow of the monitor, she slips the headphones over her ears. Within moments, she’s in the game. She’s examining the virtual room for clues and contemplating her next move. She raises her gun, and with two quick shots and a running start, she i nds herself thrown face-i rst into a wall. Unhappy with this result, she tries again, this time experimenting with portal placement and springboard jumps until she builds up enough momentum to successfully launch herself out of the room and into the next area. The music picks up and the sound of a nearby enemy chattering away is heard. As she’s about to face her next challenge, her teacher flips on the lights, signaling to the class that it is time to stop playing Portal 2 (Valve, 2011) and come together to discuss the day’s physics lesson on how acceleration can be applied in the game to beat that level.

Abstract

In this chapter, you will learn about the unique challenges of learning game design, the necessary multidisciplinary makeup of learning game design teams, and ways to improve team efficiency and effectiveness through communication. Learning games combine content and context to create a meaningful interaction between players’ experience and learning. They often employ an experiential learning strategy and have been called “designed experiences” (Squire, 2006). When learning games are viewed in this light, designing them becomes quite a challenge for several reasons: 1) many variables must be manipulated to achieve the right kind of learning experience at the right time; 2) learning game design has characteristics of ill-structured problem solving; 3) as an ill-structured problem, it requires learning game designers with a high level of expertise; and 4) the solution will require input from multiple disciplines. Having a highly skilled multidisciplinary design team raises another set of challenges including the development of a shared mental model. Research has shown that when team members think similarly, they are more likely to work effectively together (Cannon-Bowers & Salas, 1998; Guzzo & Salas, 1995; Hackman, 1990). When team members understand their differences and take measures to leverage them, learning game design teams are strengthened, leading to a more efficient and effective design process. Research indicates that multidisciplinary learning game design team members think differently about: 1) design goals; 2) authenticity requirements; 3) feedback design; 4) the integration of fun within the learning experience; 5) term definition; and 6) documentation contents. Current design models do not include steps to mitigate these differences and to build a team’s shared mental model. Therefore, we provide specific actions that should be integrated into a learning game design model to support the critical and necessary communications among learning game design team members.

Abstract

The VESSEL Damage Control Trainer (DCT) was designed to augment classroom instruction at the Navy Great Lakes Recruit Training Center. This game allows students to have practice opportunities and to demonstrate their skills in communication, shipboard navigation, and basic damage control concepts. The game’s primary goal was to increase performance in the mixed reality simulation Battle Stations 21, which serves as the final culminating event of Navy recruit training.

The design of the DCT game was sophisticated in its ability to leverage prior experiences and affordances its primary audience might have with 3-D games, while creating a motivating learning environment that anyone should be able to quickly find intuitive. By incorporating game design principles like continuous feedback, menus and goal structures, and difficult problems, DCT has created an engaging and challenging game that should increase its players’ ability to perform in their real-life tasks.

Introduction

When a player launches a game for the very i rst time, they do so with a myriad of expectations about what the experience that lies before them might include. When the game that you’re about to play is a serious game, a serious game specii cally that relates to skills that might ultimately save the lives of you and your friends, that expectation becomes different. Maybe it is not so important that this game be fun, or good looking, or even all that easy to play. Imagine you’re a naval recruit, and you’re about to play a game that was designed to help you practice THE culminating event of your training. You know there will soon be a real-life test on all the material that this game is supposed to help you practice and failing that test has consequences that you don’t want to think about.

Abstract

With the increase in the use of games for education and training, learning game developers seek to create games that not only teach, but engage and motivate learners.

One attribute often associated with successful and motivating games or training devices is authenticity, also referred to as realism or fidelity. Many falsely equate the amount of realism within a training environment to effective training; the higher the realism, the more effective the training. However, as in other training methodologies, a combination of factors, such as learner expertise, instructional domain, and details related to the knowledge and skills taught, informs the optimal level of authenticity within an effective learning game.

This chapter defines and describes authenticity as the combination of physical and cognitive fidelity. We discuss these concepts and summarize cognitive research related to authenticity and effective learning. Finally, we discuss the decisions a learning game developer makes during different stages of the development process to achieve the optimal blend of authenticity, and ultimately an effective, motivating learning game.

Abstract

Practice Marketing is a serious game designed to teach the introductory principles of marketing to college students. The game was built for McGraw-Hill Higher Education to serve as a learning tool that would support multiple introductory curricula and textbooks. Practice Marketing is the first in a line of games envisioned by McGraw-Hill for multiple higher education subjects that will provide a consistent user experience, look and feel, and common elements. In this chapter, we introduce the design and development process we followed in creating Practice Marketing and summarize some of the lessons we learned in our effort.

Introduction

At Muzzy Lane, we believe that well-designed games offer a compelling medium to give students the means and the vehicle to personally interact with educational content. By designing games in which the core game mechanic reinforces the key learning objectives, as well as by using feedback systems that correlate to valid assessment metrics, serious game developers can provide a better alternative to current methods of instruction. And we know that today’s students – from kindergarten to grad school – are willing to spend hours and hours in front of a console or a computer when they’re playing games they find engaging.

Abstract

Under the Virtual Environments for Ship and Shore Experiential Learning (VESSEL) project, we developed the VESSEL Damage Control Trainer (DCT) to help address a key training need at the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Using an agile development methodology and a multidisciplinary team of instructional, gaming, story, and assessment experts, we created a highly successful training game. Our goal was to bridge the gap between the classroom-based instruction recruits received during their boot camp and their final hands-on capstone assessment event. We designed DCT with a focus on using a scaffolded guided practice instructional approach with a relevant story and authentic game elements and interactions. Our team used regular playtesting as well as empirical validation studies to guide the evolution of our design. We introduce our team and development methods and describe some of the key design decisions we made. We discuss some of the lessons we learned and provide some of our recommendations for you to consider in your efforts to create effective learning games.

Abstract

Practice Marketing is a multiplayer business strategy game that teaches introductory marketing principles to university students. Built by Muzzy Lane Software and distributed by McGraw-Hill Education, the game allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps,” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. Over multiple turns in the game, players research the preferences of potential buyers, design a product to sell, analyze how their products and those of competitors compare, and make decisions on how to improve their sales for the next turns. We introduce the core game elements of Practice Marketing, including the game structure, assessment and feedback elements, learner interaction methods, and the elements of immersion. We present an analysis of the design and discuss how the game’s elements allow its learning objectives to be met.

Context

Practice Marketing by Muzzy Lane Software is a 3-D, turn-based multiplayer business strategy game. It is built on Muzzy Lane’s Sandstone platform for 3-D browser-based games. The game is available through McGraw-Hill Education as part of a series of educational learning games (McGraw-Hill Education, n.d .). The intended users of the game are university students who are taking a course in, or interested in learning about, introductory marketing principles. To that end, the game provides a business simulation that allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. The game teaches learners that the key to marketing success is to have a strategically aligned marketing plan based on a thorough understanding of the different possible options for each of the 4 Ps and their potential impact on business outcomes. After playing the game, learners should have a better understanding of the 4 Ps of marketing and how they interrelate.

Abstract

During a 2010 Ted conference, Ali Carr-Chellman offered this criticism of our industry: “Most of the educational games that are out there today are really flash-cards. They are glorified drill-and-practice. They don’t have the depth and rich narrative that really engaging video games have” (Carr-Chellman, 2010). She concluded with this challenge: “We need to design better games.” This chapter addresses her challenge.

Introduction

We already know that games can be used to teach many things. Sailors in the U.S. Navy play the Damage Control Trainer as part of their boot camp training. Marines use games and virtual environments to train convoy operations (Hussain et al., 2009). In health care, you see games used to improve physical fitness, aid diabetics, and improve the lives of asthmatics (Baranowski et al., 2008). But what makes these games work?

In this chapter, we will explore l ow, motivation, and fun. We will dissect how the entertainment industry creates really engaging videogames. We will unravel the science of why people become engaged and learn guidelines that promote flow. We will explore how motivation works and what fun really means. Throughout this chapter, we will highlight some of the best examples and most effective techniques. By the end, you will know how to use l ow, motivation, and fun to design better games.

Abstract

The Procurement Fraud Indicators game is a Web-delivered, Flash®-based 2-D environment for training Department of Defense acquisition professionals on researching and identifying fraud in realistic scenarios. It is intended to provide the practical exercise for application of concepts and knowledge learned during a preceding two-hour online learning module. This practical exercise requires the player to gather information, develop a theory of potential fraud, select appropriate questions for suspected perpetrators, and classify any fraud found. The game employs relatively low technology and highly accessible methods but is effective in meeting its objectives.

Introduction

High-bandwidth, highly realistic 3-D immersive environments are not absolutely necessary for creating effective serious games. What is necessary are purposefully designed learning experiences with clearly dei ned learning objectives.

Even though it is decidedly low technology, Procurement Fraud Indicators (PFI) is a well-designed serious game that includes assigned problems and employs basic feedback for performance. The game is focused within a framework of purposeful design and assessment (Serious Games Showcase and Challenge, 2011).

Abstract

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an educational virtual world environment that provides a rich capability for students to undertake quests to solve challenging and interesting real-world problems. QA provides a toolkit for teachers to manage the experiences of their students. We describe our efforts to develop, deploy, and maintain in-class, after school, and summer camp programs based on Quest Atlantis. We introduce the methods we used to train teachers to use QA and discuss some of the issues we encountered when starting out and the solutions we developed. We describe how students have used QA to learn while also performing socially aware activities, and discuss some of our impressions on how students who normally do not perform well in class respond well to learning within Quest Atlantis. Virtual worlds for learning offer many benefits for augmenting our school education programs, and we summarize some of our recommendations for how to make use of this valuable technology.

The design and development of learning games is a field of endeavor that crosses the boundaries of several disciplines. A successful computer game for learning (a.k.a. training game, educational game, serious game, instructional game) must weave together the skills and decision making of instructional system designers, game designers, software developers, story developers, assessment professionals, educational scientists, graphic artists, subject matter experts, instructors, and more. While prior publications have addressed theoretical issues from the perspective of one or two of these fields, and some publications have explored practical design and development issues, none has addressed the central methodological issues of how to produce an effective game with an explicit multidisciplinary approach. This book draws on the expertise and experience of a number of active participants in the field of learning games to provide practical guidelines and recommendations from a multidisciplinary perspective to assist you in your efforts to create effective learning games.

Definition of Learning Games

Before we dive into the issues surrounding the design of learning games, we must clarify what we mean by learning game. The literature reveals no consistent, widely accepted definition of learning games, although they are often classified as a subset of serious games for nonentertainment purposes (Sawyer & Smith, 2008). We prefer to distinguish learning games as having certain characteristics. In this book, we define learning games as games intentionally designed to help the player meet instructional goals while actively interacting with and being engaged and immersed in the experience. The learning game provides an environment in which the player must demonstrate a level of understanding of a body of knowledge or skills (expressed as learning objectives) to achieve game goals by solving challenges posed in the environment (e.g., identifying or resolving problems, completing tasks). The type of learning games we refer to require a significant design effort to achieve the learning goals.

Abstract

As you get started on your project to create a serious game for learning, it is important for you to recognize that you and your team will likely need the skills of several different disciplines to achieve success. Usually, this means that you will be working with colleagues who have been trained in a different field from yours. By better understanding what the key concerns and methods of their disciplines are, you will better understand where your teammates are coming from and the processes they are used to. We introduce the standard methods used in the supporting fields of instructional system design, software development, game design, assessment development, and story creation and discuss some of the main strengths of each area as well as some of the typical challenges that practitioners in each area face.

Introduction

So, you’re thinking of developing a game to help teach some valuable knowledge and/or skills. How do you go about designing and developing your learning game efi ciently? What steps are involved? Who needs to be involved? What are the gotchas to be aware of and how do you address those issues effectively? How do you ensure that your learning game successfully engages your learners while effectively teaching them?

Abstract

While the field of serious games has made good progress in identifying some of the design methods that lead to success, there aren’t many specific guidelines to help bridge the gap between the design and implementation of a serious game for learning. Issues can arise because of a variety of factors, such as conceptual confusion or competing perspectives among team members, incomplete or conflicting design of gaming and instructional elements, arbitrary software implementations of the design, and conflicting gameplay experiences for the player. We present several recommendations for how to approach your design and implementation efforts in your team to minimize these issues and align the instructional elements and gaming elements. We discuss the value of working toward a common dialog on instructional and gaming elements, particularly those for goals, control, actions, guidance, and feedback. We discuss the benefits of adopting design patterns for learning game elements to make your game easier to create, understand, test, and maintain. In particular, we discuss the use of patterns for designing the gaming experience in terms of instructional situations that teach particular learning objectives using particular instructional methods and in terms of instructional mechanics that provide specific instructional content and learning opportunities using specific gameplay interaction methods. We introduce a number of design patterns for incorporating goals, control, actions, guidance, and feedback into your game. Finally, we discuss how to address some practical issues that arise when using design patterns during design and development to help make your gameplay experience both instructionally effective and cohesive for the player.

Abstract

This chapter shares details about the design and development of the Virtual Dental Implant Trainer (VDIT) learning game created for the Medical College of Georgia. The design and development team introduces the program by sharing the instructional goals of the learning game, basic design concepts, and development constraints. The chapter then highlights successes and discusses issues the team encountered during the design and development of the VDIT learning game. The emphasis is on sharing our experiences to help future organizations interested in creating or procuring learning game products learn from our example. Despite the issues, the team was able to minimize their impact and happily report that the game has been successfully created, tested, and delivered to the Medical College of Georgia for use in the affiliated dental school programs. The chapter closes with actionable recommendations for learning game design teams to help ensure delivery of successful game products.

Introduction

The purpose of the Virtual Dental Implant Trainer (VDIT) project was to create a game-based simulation training tool to allow students to practice dental implant decision making during their free time. Nobel Biocare, a globally recognized maker of dental implant tools and hardware, through its partnership with the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), commissioned our team to design VDIT as a downloadable or CD-driven software package that could be distributed to medical students through its network of accredited schools and businesses.

Abstract

The Procurement Fraud Indicators game was designed to serve as an experiential learning game for acquisition professionals. The game immediately follows a two-hour online learning module about procurement fraud indicators made available by the Defense Acquisition University. The procurement fraud indicators course was selected to be enhanced by a game because it represented a content area filled with ethical and shades of grey types of decision making. The game was designed to provide learners an opportunity to practice the skills they learned during the preceding module by presenting them with varied situations and scenarios in which they are tasked with identifying and categorizing procurement fraud indicators.

Introduction

In 2007, the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), a U.S. Department of Defense Corporate University, launched three distinct games initiatives as it moved toward a performance-based learning framework. The first initiative involved DAU’s two hundred formal resident and online courses. Each of DAU’s courses is part of a certification requirement that the entire Acquisition Technology & Logistics (AT&L) workforce must complete to remain certified. DAU quickly realized that games within this initiative would be very specific to the context and content and would require custom development with a focus on ensuring a learner could perform the tasks related to the content presented with each course. DAU’s second games initiative was on the opposite end of the spectrum. It involved core competencies related to acquisition, but so generic that context might be less important. Games within this second initiative would be casual games – small, easy to play games that anyone in any AT&L career field could be successful playing.

Abstract

Incorporating gaming into a learning environment requires first learning about the environment. Just as each learner is an individual, with his or her own motivators, learning style, and educational and experiential background, each learning environment has its own characteristics, which will in turn influence how gaming will be accepted, what kinds of games can be used, and what educational purposes those games will serve. In this chapter you will learn about the different parts of a learning system that must be considered when determining how to integrate gaming into a learning environment.

Introduction

Finally! After all the talking, the state Department of Education has at last agreed to fund a game to help students learn civics! Your team is cranked. You have only twelve months to build it, and the time crunch merely adds to the excitement. You and your team meet daily. It’s a creative i restorm, with ideas popping and crackling in an electric exchange of ideas. Using a game engine you’ve had good success with in the past, you craft the prototype and present it to the client. It has all the elements of a classic multiplayer game – a vivid and engaging story line, role playing, interaction, and real-life depth and complexity in both the problems presented and the strategies players use to resolve them.

Abstract

Ambush! is a “mod” of an existing commercial first-person shooter military combat game called Operation Flashpoint®. Multiple players operate in a 3-D environment that simulates convoy missions in Iraq. Ambush! is a complete training system that utilizes gameplay as the shared experience for the team. In this way, it is a virtual training exercise lane without the logistical time and expense of a “live” exercise. The real training occurs during the planning and after-action review phases of any one scenario. Unit leaders must plan the operation and present it to their team. The team plays Ambush! and typically something goes wrong: an improvised explosive device (IED) goes off, insurgents attack them, snipers shoot at them, and so forth. They must stay vigilant, identify suspicious situations, adapt to an unfolding situation, and reflect on their performance once the action is done. It is an excellent example of how context can turn a playing a game into a serious training endeavor.

Abstract

Quest Atlantis is a virtual world that has been developed for the express purpose of leveraging children’s familiarity with online videogame metaphors to provide flexible and high-quality educational curricula to students. The combination of compelling technology, a rich ecosystem of educational materials, and a class-centric focus contributes to a complete system that stands on its own as well as offers guidance to developers of similar systems.

Introduction

Quest Atlantis (QA) is a three-dimensional virtual world designed from the ground up to be an engaging educational environment for middle and early high school children (Barab et al., 2005) using the principle of transformational play: “In transformational play, students become immersed in activities that engage them intellectually and push back on their thinking and actions. Rather than working on problems in which they must imagine the implications of their decisions (as in most project-based work) students experience consequentiality” (Barab, Gresali, & Arici, 2009 , p. 77).