Socio-Cultural
Learning Games
Human Centered Multimedia Master’s Program 2012-2013
Course: Serious Games
Moysiadou Parthena
10/10/2012
Socio-Cultural Learning Games
October 10, 2012
Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to examine serious games in socio-cultural content that support
cultural heritage and art learning. These types of games provide the opportunity to explore
foreign cultures and learn history and art. There is an introduction to the concept of serious
games for foreign cultural heritage and learning. Following, there is a presentation of a sociocultural game, named ICURA, with an analysis of its design and implementation problems.
Finally, there is a discussion about the benefits of this kind of games and their social impact.
Keywords: serious games, foreign cultures learning, socio-cultural games, cultural awareness,
3D environments, educational game design
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1. Introduction
Games have historically been the cutting edge of technology (Eagle, M., 2009) and constantly
lead to new improvements in the field of computer graphics, game design and innovative
storytelling (Froschauer et al., 2010). Much research has also proved the benefits of digital
game based learning. In fact, games have always been a powerful mediator in learning
(Rieber, 1996). The interactivity, the visual expression of information, the communication
and the collaboration mechanisms are some of the strengths of digital games. In addition,
recent advances in real-time graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence
play the first role in the development of powerful educational games. In this field, serious
games seem to be a trend, as they are getting more and more established in the general public.
Clark Abt first mentioned the term serious games, in his book Serious Games, in 1970. He
claims that card and board games are not intended to be played primarily for amusement, but
also for education purposes (Abt, 1970). Coming back some years ago, in 2005, Mike Zyda
describes serious games as “a mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with
specific rules, that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education,
health, public policy and strategic communication objectives (Zyda, 2005). Zyda was the first
who suggested a classification of serious games into different categories and stated that while
pedagogy is an implicit component of a serious game, it should be secondary to
entertainment, which means that a serious game that is not “fun” to play is useless, accept of
its learning scope.
The design of serious games involves disciplines like game design, visual artistry and
programming, together with the pedagogical concepts, to become successful mediators of
knowledge. Zyda created the term “collateral learning”, refer to the knowledge gained by
mechanisms other than the formal teaching (Zyda, 2005). The development of serious games
should support this type of mechanisms and provide new ways of communicating knowledge.
An unsuccessful design is usually caused by the wrong integration of learning contents into
the game. Instead of creating boring educational add-ons, information should be well
integrated into the game logic and aesthetics (Belloti et al., 2008). The goal of serious games
is the successful integration of learning objectives with the element of entertainment, play and
fun (Rankin et al., 2008).
There is a great range of topics, where serious games development considered to be a
revolutionary learning practice. Depending on the scope, we can find from simple learning
games to highly elaborate training simulations (usually for military purposes). Nevertheless,
the use of games to support cross-cultural content has been less taken into account. Games
with socio-cultural content will give the opportunity to explore foreign cultures and improve
cross-cultural skills. This type of games can provide the appropriate knowledge to avoid
embarrassing moments or unintentional disrespectfulness when someone is in a foreign
country. Serious games represent a “safe” way to make mistakes and to learn culture in an
environment that mimics reality as realistically as possible (Zielke et al., 2009). The term
culture is usually associated with a life-world as well as a set of behavioral rules, forms of
thinking and norms that emerge from human group interaction (Fishwick et al., 2008).
According to this, the socio-cultural games implementation requires a detailed understanding
of the target culture.
Most serious games, aimed to teach cultural awareness, were developed for military use. The
first example is The America’s Army, which first released in 2002 and started a revolutionary
of thinking about the potential role of video games for non-leisure purposes (Zyda, 2005).
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Following, two other games were created, the Tactical Iraqi and the Virtual Iraq. The
Tactical Iraqi was created to teach soldiers Arabic language and how to confront in
unpredictable situations. The Virtual Iraq was designed to reduce the effects of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (Johnson et al., 2007) (Losh, 2006). Zielke et al. wade into a
project that is tightly connected to the fields of cultural heritage and tourism, however, with a
military background (Zielke et al., 2009). The 3D Asymmetric Domain Analysis and Training
(3D ADAT) model is a platform for the development and visualization of dynamic sociocultural models. It provides the possibility to learn culture in a safe and realistic 3D
environment. Based upon this framework, a Serious Game was developed that lets players
increase their cultural expertise in simulated Afghan rural and urban environment. Sagae et
al., designed five interactive arcade games training courses that conduct basic training in
foreign language and culture (Sagae et al., 2010). An estimated twenty-five thousand US
military users have trained with the system so far. They claim that although the concept was
originally developed under military purpose, the approach can be applied quite generally to
language and culture learning (Froschauer et al., 2011).
This essay is an overview of a socio-cultural game, named ICURA, with an analysis of the
challenges and the problems during the implementation process. In conclusion, there is a
discussion about the benefits of using games for enhancing cultural awareness.
2. Socio-cultural learning games: Case studies
2.1 ICURA
ICURA (an abbreviation for “Immersive Cultural Training”) was developed in 2009 and its
scope was to teach the player cultural awareness. The game provides the opportunity to learn
more about Japanese culture and etiquette in an immersive 3D adventure environment. The
potential goal of ICURA was to expand the knowledge of the foreign culture in a playful way
[2]. The player of ICURA can gather information about Japanese language, behavioral rules
and culture. The game is useful for pre-trip planning or for raising one’s interest in another
culture.
The plot:
The role player of the game is an Austrian tourist in Japan, who wants to learn more about the
Japanese culture and some language basics. The player is a member of Couchsurfing Network
(www.couchsurfing.org) and has arranged a meeting with another member in the town of
Kuya to stay at his place. Unfortunately, both forgot to communicate the exact address or the
meeting point. The player has only a print-out of the host’s Couchsurfing profile and a copy
of previous emails. In these emails, Shoji (the host) addresses typical rules of behavior for
tourists in Japan. The main goal of the game is to find Shoji. Various sub-goals are added
during the game (Froschauer et al., 2010).
Graphics, UI and controls:
ICURA was developed using the Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA,
www.torquepowered.com). This enabled the developers to use state-of-the-art graphics,
including elaborate 3D models of buildings and convincing weather effects. They also added
discreet music and sound effects that do not distract the player from the learning content. The
avatar is controlled from a first-person view by using the WASD keys. The mouse cursor is
used to interact with GUI elements and 3D objects. To interact with the 3D environment, the
mouse cursor is placed over an object. A change of the cursor’s shape indicates the possibility
for an interaction. By left clicking an object, the player investigates an object, a right click
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triggers an interaction, such as taking an object or talking to a non-player character (NPC). A
dialogue system was integrated into the game, in order to let the player interactively choose
what to say and which answers to give. Fig. 1 shows a dialogue with a NPC.
Figure 1.The Dialogue System of ICURA
As for the user interface design, ICURA follows the classic 2D adventure games and has a
simple GUI with an inventory and several buttons. The inventory, displayed at the bottom of
Fig. 2, and stores all the objects the player is carrying, for instance the host’s Couchsurfing
profile. As soon as the player takes an object in the 3D world, it appears as a 2D replica in the
inventory. The inventory allows the user to investigate the stored items and to combine them
with each other. The two buttons in the lower right corner display a summary of the controls
of the game, the goals and sub-goals the player has to achieve. The upper left corner shows a
small text box, which is called Information Agent. The Information Agent notifies about the
progress of the game and provides the player with useful information about Japanese culture
and etiquette. Every important action the player takes is accompanied by a new message that
is crucial for the learning process. Fig.2 shows all the GUI elements.
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Figure 2. The Graphics and the User Interface of ICURA
Playing:
The game starts with a test of 12 questions concerning language basics, Japanese culture and
etiquette. This test is to measure the preliminary knowledge of the player. The game
welcomes the player with different screens that introduce the user interface and the controls.
The player has to investigate the 3D environment, collect items and talk to persons, in order
to complete the game. The game ends when the player meets the host Shoji. Then, the player
takes the test again. The game calculates the results of the tests and gives a short
summarization and the final score. Figure 3 shows the end screen of the game. Then the
results are uploaded to a server and displayed on an online scoreboard. Sheng et al. point out
the importance of including an opportunity for the players to stop and think about what they
are learning (Sheng et al., 2007). This is called the “reflection principle” and is employed by
displaying the wrong answers from the post-test at the end of the game (Froschauer et al.,
2010).
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Figure 3. Results of the pre- and post- test
Design principles in Practice:
ICURA is based on the approach of deFreitas and Javris. They endorse that there are four
aspects that raise the effectiveness of a serious game: the content the context, where a game
will be used, the learner specification, representation and the pedagogical model or approach
used (deFreitas &Javris, 2007). The design of ICURA is based on five important principles:
integrating a constructivist perspective, the player’s motivation, usability, the agent principle
and the element of fun.
ICURA provides a 3D learning environment with opportunities for exploration and
manipulation in it. The player can explore a huge game area that is freely accessible and
interact with objects or other persons to achieve goals. The overall plot is authentic and can be
placed in real life. During the course of the game, player has to deal with real situations, in
order to complete tasks. The user gathers information in an inconspicuous way, by looking at
the objects and trigging interactions. So, learning occurs as an incidental consequence of the
game activity, also called “stealth learning” (Johnson et al., 2007). This approach not only
increases the motivation but also compels the player to think about, organize and use
information in ways that encourage active construction of meaning (Greitzer et al., 2007).
According to Greitzer et al. there are five guidelines to keep the player’s motivation (Greitzer
et al., 2007). These include leveling-up, adaptability of the game’s difficulty, clear goals,
interaction with other players, and a shared experience. ICURA incorporates as many
guidelines as possible. There is a button for displaying the user’s goals and sub-goals. The
goals that are accomplished get marked with a green check mark. So, the goals and the
current status are visible to the player at any time of the game. As I mentioned, ICURA is a
single-player game, so there is no interaction with other players. In addition, it is embedded in
the 3D e-Tourism Environment “Itchy Feet” and the interaction happens as soon as the game
is finished. In this part, the users can discuss about the gaming experience and exchange
views about the learning content. Unfortunately, this version of ICURA does not allow
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adapting the difficulty and does not support leveling-up. These two guidelines are mentioned
as future work of the project.
Pinelle et al. describes usability as “the degree to which a player is able to learn, control, and
understand a game” (Pinelle et al., 2008). ICURA follows ten usability heuristics and
provides consistent response to the player’s actions. The Information Agent in the upper left
corner comments every action, informs the player about the current status, provides
instructions, hints and help.
The virtual tutor is already used in other projects. ICURA was strongly influenced by Sheng,
Magnien et al. and the idea of a “story-based agent” (Sheng et al., 2007). Agents are
characters that guide learners through the learning process. They can be cartoon-like or reallife characters. In ICURA, the Information Agent has the role of the “story-based agent” who
guides the player through the course of the game and simultaneously transports learning
content in small and comprehensible junks (Froschauer et al., 2010).
The most successful feature for a video game, as well as for a Serious Game, is the player’s
enjoyment (Froschauer et al., 2010). Existing Serious Games that deal with teaching cultural
awareness often lack of funny elements. The element of fun is so important for the player’s
motivation and thus for the success of the game. Fun was very important and it was taken
under consideration for the design of ICURA. The game includes funny comments and jokes
to make learning an entertaining experience (Froschauer et al., 2010).
Evaluation and designing problems:
For the evaluation of ICURA, a test session with 20 participants was conducted. There were
five steps during the session: in the pre-questionnaire, demographic data and information
about the participant’s computer usage were collected. The scope of pre-test was to assess the
participant’s knowledge of the Japanese culture and it was integrated into the game. Then
every participant played the ICURA and took the post-test. There was also a final
questionnaire to determine the overall satisfaction with the game. The results of the pre- and
post-test were presented to the player after finishing the game (Fig. 3). The positive effect of
the game is that all participants increased their knowledge about the Japanese culture and
achieved a higher score in the post-test. Also, the game integrated the element of fun.
There were only some concerns about the controls of the game. For example, when pressing
the left or right arrow keys, players expected the avatar to perform a sideway motion, instead
of turning around the axis. Although the game lets the player toggle the mouse cursor to
activate a mouse-look view, scarcely anybody made use of it (Froschauer et al., 2011).
According to the developers, they took less effort to explain the controls and didn’t stick close
enough to prevalent control paradigms. Another notice was that, the players who have never
navigated in 3D Virtual Worlds before, had problems to get familiar with the control scheme
and to use keyboard and mouse at the same time.
As for the communication of knowledge and how the game followed the constructivist
learning theory, a big part of the learning content is integrated in the game as part of puzzles.
The player has to interact with the learning content actively to fulfill a task. The analysis of
both tests shows that information was communicated very effectively and followed the
constructivism paradigms. Another problem was the fact that some participants did not even
recognize the text messages, provided by the Information Agent. In addition, some people
mentioned that the learning content itself could have been of greater importance. According
to this, it would have been crucial for the game development to cooperate with external
experts to find out, which information about Japanese culture and etiquette is considered as
most important to the user.
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After the evaluation, the game was available for download on the project’s website. The
developers also integrated an online high score template that shows the nickname of the
player and the results of the pre- and post- tests. In contrary to the developer’s expectations,
the game was hardly played by the public. According to them, the main reasons could be that
people were not willing to download an installer with the size of over 150 MB and the game
was simply not announced publicly (Froschauer et al., 2011).
3. Conclusions
ICURA was successful in communicating knowledge to its players, but there are still some
deficiency issues. According to the results of the evaluation, the developers came down with
some useful guidelines for socio-cultural games design (Froschauer et al., 2011).
- Cross-disciplinarity: before starting to implement the game it is very important to define the
learning goals and cooperate with experts in the respective field. During this process, a
meeting with pedagogues is necessary to have a look at the presentation of information.
- Constructivism: the game should let the player learn actively and interact freely with the
environment. Wrap the story of the game around the learning content and integrate every
information into a puzzle to allow the player to deal with it directly.
- Start from scratch: do not suppose that the player has any knowledge. The game should give
the player the opportunity to learn the basics and use newly gained knowledge.
- Obey the principles: follow prevalent game design principles, as they are used in
commercial games. Concerning the navigation in 3D Virtual Worlds, 3D games should offer
both control schemes, for experts and beginners.
- Make it public: for example ICURA was not really played after publication. The developers
should make the game available online and promote it on Web 2.0 platforms, such as
Facebook or Twitter. The wider audience will provide useful feedback.
- Keep the access barrier low: people prefer to download small scale installer packages first
before being able to play an unknown game. In addition, if it is possible to play the game
within a familiar Web-browser, chances might be higher that people give it a try.
4. Discussion
In conclusion, do we actually want socio-cultural games? Or do we need them? For example,
the American soldiers use a number of serious games to understand the Arabic culture and to
be prepared for unpredictable situations. These games provide valuable knowledge for their
work and their life. In this way, socio-cultural games can be useful for people who travel to
another country, either for a trip or for immigration. There is not much research on serious
games in a socio-cultural content, but the evaluation of applications like ICURA, provided
very useful guidelines for the next steps. A serious game can be successful if it has clear goals
before its implementation and the most important, integrate the element of fun. Defining the
use of serious games, in accordance with their field and their added value will give us the
opportunity to create useful and playful applications. What all developers should have in
mind is that the integration of socio-cultural content into a game requires a wide range of
different disciplines work together to provide a successful product. It is also important, to
make the games accessible through Web 2.0 technology. This will let the users try the game
and also give great feedback about how useful and playful these games can be. Moreover,
developers should also consider other technologies, like mobile phones and tablets, where
socio-cultural games can be applied. I would like to close this essay with this phrase: now we
have the technology, the bet is to learn how to use it effectively.
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