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Seminar Serious Gaming:

introduction to serious games

Fabiano Dalpiaz and Joske Houtkamp

f.dalpiaz@uu.nl J.M.Houtkamp@uu.nl

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Serious games defined

1. “[any] computerized game whose chief mission is notentertainment [including] entertainment games which can bereapplied to a different mission other than entertainment”(Sawyer, 2004)

2. “games that do not have entertainment, enjoyment, orfun as their primary purpose”…. this is not to say thatserious games are not entertaining, enjoyable, or fun, …..(Michael & Chen, 2006)

3. “a mental contest, [played with a computer] in accordancewith specific rules, that uses entertainment to furthergovernment or corporate training, education, health, publicpolicy, and strategic communication objectives.“ (Zyda,2005)

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Serious games defined, reprise

“an application with three components: experience, entertainment, and multimedia” (Laamarti, 2014)

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Other related terms

Advergaming

Edutainment

Game-based learning

Simulation games

Persuasive games

Organizational-Dynamic games

Are they referring to the same concept?

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Many serious games are computer games… but not all!

Why is this a serious game?

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Many serious games are computer games… but not all!

Not a serious game according to Laamarti.

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Computer games: characteristics

Pong

SimCity

From the literature:

Clear objective/goal

Rules/constraints

Feedback

Adaptivity

Interactivity

Competition [?]

Narrative [?]

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Computer games: characteristicsLet us apply them to a serious game!

Clear objective/goal

Rules/constraints

Feedback

Adaptivity

Interactivity

Competition [?]

Narrative [?]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8_odRoKnGQ

MathMathews

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Computer games: genres

It is difficult to make a sound taxonomy of genres:

1. A very basic taxonomy (Crawford, 1984): Skill-and-action games vs. strategy games

Strategy game (Civilization)

Skill-and-action games (Half-Life 2)

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Computer games: genres

2. More recent classifications, but rather unsystematic (Schiffler, Prensky a.o.)

Adventure game (Lineage)

Strategy game (Civilization)

Action game (Call of Duty)

Simulation game (Fifa)

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But what about mixed types such as action-adventure games?

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Computer games: genres

3. A more conceptual approach (Lindley 2003)

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Computer games: genres

3. A more conceptual approach (Lindley 2003)

a game is a goal-directed and competitive activity conducted within a framework of agreed rules

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Computer games: genres

3. A more conceptual approach (Lindley 2003)

an experience that is structured in time

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Computer games: genres

3. A more conceptual approach (Lindley 2003)

decisions of gain or loss made by chance within a framework of agreed rules

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Computer games: genres

3. A more conceptual approach (Lindley 2003)

a representation of the function, operation or features of one process or system through the use of another

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Problem solving skills (biology)

Crystal islandDisease on island, students have to find out what happened

Source: Adams, D. M., Mayer R. E., MacNamara, A, Koenig, A. & Wainess, R. (2012). Narrative games for learning: Testing the discovery and narrative hypotheses. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104, 235-249.

http://vimeo.com/54292973

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Medical decision making

Triage Trainer

Classify victims in one of four categories in a limited time

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HvreDsPsuU

Source: Jarvis, S., & de Freitas, S. (2009). Evaluation of an immersive learning programme to support triage training. Proceedings of the Conference in Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications, 117-122.

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Dual-attention skills

Two groups:- experimental group: game Banjo-Kazooie (platform/adventure)- control group: internet task

A pretest-posttest design

Test: reading a story, meanwhile irrelevant words are spoken that the participant had to write down.

Measures: comprehension test and dictation rate

Source: Satyen, L., & Ohtsuka, K. (2001). Strategies to develop divided attention skills through video game training. In D. Harris (Ed.), Engineering psychology and cognitive ergonomics (Vol. 6) (pp. 191 – 199). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

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Motor skills

Seems obvious with current platforms such as Wii

However little research

Some research exists regarding fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination (surgery)

Experimental:No effectSource: Rosenberg, B. H., Landsittel, D., & Averch, T. D. (2005). Can video games be used to predict or improve laparoscopic skills? Journal of Endourology, 19, 372–376.

Correlations: Game experience has a positive effectSource: Rosser, J. C., Lynch, P. J., Cuddihy, L., Gentile, D. A., Klonsky, J., & Merell, R. (2007). The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century. Archives of Surgery, 142, 181–186.

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Immersion and Presence

Subjective immersion refers to the degree to which an

individual feels absorbed by or engrossed in a particular experience (Witmer & Singer, 1998)

Presence refers to the subjective experience of actually existing within the computer-mediated environmenteven when one is physically situated in another (Slater & Steed, 2000; Witmer & Singer, 1998)

Immersion and presence are used in fear reduction/therapy

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Want to know more?

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Application Domains: marketing Games for advertising (advergames)

Purpose: integrate advertising into video games toadvertise products, organizations, opinions, …

In-game advertising!

FIFA International Soccer, 1993KLM Aviation Empire, 2013

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Application Domains: edutainment and game-based learning

Purpose: educate/learning as well as entertain

Often for kids, but not only!

Timez Attack (Big Brainz)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXpfQ-zRo0

Rocksmith

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Application Domains: edutainment and game-based learning - simulators

Purpose: acquisition or exercise of different skills

Simulated environment: the variables in the environmentare transposed to the game environment

Flightgear (open source)

X-Plane

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Application Domains: awareness

Purpose: create awareness on reality through games

Communicate opinions / viewpoints

NarcoGuerra: Mexican drug wars

Filosofighters

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Application Domains: business

Purpose: to deliver knowledge about managementprinciples, economics, …

SimVenture – business simulator

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Application Domains: healthcare

Purpose: psychological therapy, cognitive training,emotional training, also exercise (excergaming)

Challenges

Are they effective?

How to measure their effectiveness?

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Lecture outline

1. Definition(s) of serious games

2. Characteristics of computer games

3. Game genres

4. Effects of games

5. Domains

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Literature used in these slides

Connolly, Thomas M., Elizabeth A. Boyle, Ewan MacArthur, Thomas Hainey, and James M. Boyle. "A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games." Computers & Education 59, no. 2 (2012): 661-686.

Crawford, Chris. "The art of computer game design." (1984).

Gredler, M. E. (1996) Educational games and simulations: a technology in search of a research paradigm, in: D. H. Jonassen (Ed.) Handbook of research for educational communications and technology (New York, Simon & Schuster Macmillan), 521–540.

Laamarti, F., Eid, M., & Saddik, A. E. (2014). An overview of serious games. International Journal of Computer Games Technology, 2014, 11.

Lindley, Craig A. "Game taxonomies: A high level framework for game analysis and design." Gamasutra. URL: www. gamasutra. com/features/20031003/lindley_01. shtml (2003).

Michael, David R., and Sandra L. Chen. Serious games: Games that educate, train, and inform. Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, 2005.Zyda, M. (2005). From visual simulation to virtual reality to games. Computer, 38(9), 25-32.

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More literature from the slides

Sawyer, Ben. "The “Serious Games” Landscape." Proceedings from Serious Game Days at the Game Developers Conference, San Jose. 2004.

Shaffer, David Williamson, et al. "Epistemic network analysis: A prototype for 21st-century assessment of learning." (2009): 33-53.

Shiffler, A. A heuristic taxonomy of computer games. http://www.ferzkopp.net/joomla/science-mainmenu-15/9-ferzkopps-philosophy-work/77-a-heuristic-taxonomy-of-computer-games

Wouters P., Spek van der, E.D. & Oostendorp van , H. (2009). Current practices in serious game research: A review from a learning outcomes perspective. In Connolly,T.M., Stansfield, M. & Boyle, L. (Eds.), Games-Based Learning Advancements for Multisensory Human Computer Interfaces: Techniques and Effective Practices (pp. 232-255). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Zichermann, Gabe, and Christopher Cunningham. Gamification by Design: Implementing game mechanics in web and mobile apps. O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2011.