SERIOUS GAMES: AN INTRODUCTION
STATISTICS UPDATE
WHO IS A GAMER?
US Statistics
 155 million people (50%)
 42% at least 3 hrs/wk
 Average age 35 (women 43)
 56% male
 2214 $22.4B
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WHAT IS A GAME (CONT)
TOY
PUZZLE
GAME
PLAY
GOAL
RULES
GAMES VS. TOYS
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What’s the difference?
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Children
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Games: restrictive rules, limit-testing strategies
Toys: fantasy and free play.
captivated by versatility of toys
Adults
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lose interest in toys
Create games around toys
 tactics, strategies, results
(Schiesel 2008)
GAMES…
are an activity
provide no material gain
have rules
are voluntary
have conflict
have uncertain outcome
have goals
are a representation
involve decision making
are make believe
are artificial
are inefficient
are safe
have closed systems
are outside ordinary life
are a form of art
WHAT IS A GAME?

Play

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Pretend

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The Magic Circle (Huizinga)
Goal

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“work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and …
play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Challenges
Win, Loss, Termination
Rules

Meanings, gameplay, sequence of play, goals, metarules
GAMIFICATION
What is it?
 What could it be?

“What we're currently terming gamification is in
fact the process of taking the thing that is least
essential to games and representing it as the
core of the experience.”
Margaret Robertson
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM GAMES?
GAMES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN USED TO TEACH

What kinds of games do young children play?
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How do young animals learn skills?
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Role modeling!
Playing!
What do you learn from Hide and Seek?

Hunting, tracking, hiding, observation
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM VIDEO GAMES?
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Visual selective attention: focus on what’s important
Situational awareness: absorb what’s happening around you
Are those contradictary?
Mental mapping: create a mental picture of what you have
learned
Inductive discovery: learn by trial and error
Multitasking
Collaborating
Marc Prensky
DRIVING: VISUAL ALERTNESS
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Improve visual attention

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Over space (useful field of view)
Over time
Number of objects
University of Rochester study of action games
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Unreal Tournament
Medal of Honor
Call of Duty
SERIOUS GAMES
SERIOUS GAMES ARE

games with a serious purpose beyond
entertainment


built for serious purpose
used for serious purpose
WHAT IS A SERIOUS PURPOSE?
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Education
Training
Social change
Health education
Pain control
Rehabilitation
Business (marketing)