Serious Games Archives | Page 2 of 2

The Importance of Aesthetics in Serious Games

April 17, 2014/0 Comments/in Game Based Learning, Quick Tip, Serious Games /by Sharon Boller

First impressions matter in almost every situation – including game play.

Aesthetics are a huge part of the game play experience. If the game doesn’t LOOK appealing, then players won’t want to play even if the game has a great game goal and rules. Conversely, a game that may be “just okay” from a game play perspective can be elevated by strong aesthetics. This fact can be a plus in learning games where content might be a bit dry but a great theme and aesthetics can help create an enjoyable experience.

Compare these two game boards. Which one makes you more curious about playing the game?

What about these game characters and images? Do they make you curious and want to play? What other information is being shared via the aesthetics in the game? (Answer: Progression, topic, what to do next, theme, overarching mood, etc.)

Aesthetics do several things for you in a game (any game – including serious games).

For example:

Set a mood and reinforce a theme or a concept
Immerse the player into the game experience and help them suspend reality so they can play the game.
Offer cues that can guide performance and communicate a player’s status and progress.
Facilitate understanding of game play, making it easier for a player to figure out what to do.

Are you in the position of hiring out game design and development? Terrific! Our team would love to chat with you.

If, however, you are NOT in this position and are instead a team of one, here are some resources for you. If your skill set doesn’t reside in the graphic design arena, my first vote is for you to hire a graphic designer to help you. The hourly rate for a solo freelancer is typically around $75/hour. Ten to 20 hours of a graphic designer’s time can probably get you all the art assets you need for a basic game.

If you have no budget for a graphic designer, here are a couple of other options to check out for digital art assets:

http://opengameart.org — has some nice graphics bundles you can download and use in your digital games.

http://elearningtemplates.com/elearning-activities/ — has cutout people and graphics as well as some “game” templates (they aren’t really games, but are gamified activities.)

You can also check out this site to purchase game components for board games or card games at a reasonable price. Available items include tokens, dice, game boards, cards, chips, money, etc: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/parts

How Much Story Does a Serious Game Need?

April 2, 2014/0 Comments/in Game Based Learning, Learning Game Design, Serious Games /by Steven Boller

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In serious games, story is a narrative that either weaves through an entire game or sets up the reason you are playing the game and elaborates on the theme. The type of story and level of detail you need will depend on your learning goal.

Some in the corporate learning field get nervous about using “too much” story for obvious reasons. Will the story be too “out there” for some learners? Will a story that is too detailed exclude certain learners or make them feel the game does not apply to them?

Should I use a story?

Sharon Boller wrote extensively on this subject in her Learning Game Design Blog Series. When deciding whether to use story, or how much story to use, it’s important to ask two questions:

Would story add to this game? Include story when you need to evoke emotion in players and motivate them to play.
Can story be used as a learning tool? Research shows that incorporating story and even fantasy elements into games can help embed memories. You also might be able to make the story mirror a real-life situation for learners, either literally or metaphorically.

Should I combine my story with a theme?

When we think of story, we often think of theme at the same time. A game’s theme is essentially a backdrop or collection of aesthetic elements. In the board game Smallworld, the theme is a beautifully illustrated fantasy island with many topographies. The story connects to the theme: you are one of many races vying for control of a small island that is not big enough for all of you. The game’s story is simple and intentionally vague, but it is effective because it is combined with a lovely theme and well-done aesthetics.

Smallworld board game, ® Days of Wonder

How much story do I need?

The level of story will depend on how immersive your game needs to be. For a complex game teaching high-level skills, you might require a level of story bordering on simulation-worthy realism. For a game teaching foundational knowledge and simple skills, a complex story might be unnecessary.

Each time we develop a new theme pack for Knowledge Guru, we try carefully to develop a story that is simple yet fun… and does not distract from whatever content users put into the game. We also carefully link the game’s story to the aesthetic elements of the theme.

In the new fairytale-themed “Knowledge Hero,” players learn about a Dark Wizard who has locked up all the knowledge in the land.

These simple stories create a feeling of interest and novelty, yet have nothing to do with the actual content or “knowledge” the user has inputted into their game.

Even when the theme is pretty “out there” (like our new Space Aliens theme), the story is always fairly straightforward.

You should also consider how a simple story can be more business-centric, which will be more suited to certain players.

We created three different “business” themes that combine a corporate feel with fun and whimsy.

The truth? The type of story and amount of story you need completely depends on your learning goal. Make sure story is being used as learning tool and not a distraction.

Games vs Simulations: Choosing the Right Approach for Learning

March 26, 2014/4 Comments/in Serious Games /by Sharon Boller

The word “game” is a big one… and it really refers to a category of activities that can look many ways. There is some natural confusion that arises around this topic, particularly on the difference between games, simulations, and gamification. I’ll focus on games and simulations in this post.

Here’s the definition I always give when asked to define what I mean by game:

An activity that has an explicit goal or challenge, rules that guide achievement of the goal, interactivity with either other players or the game environment (or both), and feedback mechanisms that give clear cues as to how well or poorly you are performing. It results in a quantifiable outcome (you win/you lose, you hit the target, etc). Usually, it generates an emotional reaction in players.

Categorizing Learning Games and Simulations

With the definition in hand, we can then think of how we might sub-categorize the word “game.”

Within the classification of games, you have a subset labeled “learning games” or “serious games.” Games created with the explicit intent of helping someone learn a specific set of knowledge or skills belong in this category. On the education front, you have things such as Treasure Math Storm, Oregon Trail, and Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego. In the corporate world, an example would be our Knowledge Guru platform. We’ve also designed card games, mobile games, computer games, and board games to help people learn new knowledge or skills or to reinforce knowledge or skill learned via other means.

Then we’ve designed simulations—sometimes we design them to be games, and sometimes not. Simulations can be designed as games, but they don’t have to be. (Confusing, isn’t it?) A simulation is a re-creation of a situation you could encounter that requires you to problem-solve and make decisions that mimic what you would have to do in the real-world. Simulations provide a safe means of practice when practicing in a real-world situation would be either too costly or harmful. (e.g. No one practices flying in a real jet. You learn first in a simulator.)

An Example of a Simulation

Here’s an example of a simulation we created that is not a game. The learning goal was for patients to be able to respond to common troubleshooting alarms when doing home hemodialysis, and then safely resolve the alarm. Here are some screen grabs of the simulation with notes about what we did:

The image shown above is the actual face of the dialysis equipment. The learner will practice resolving “Alarm 20,” which is an actual alarm that can go off during treatment. They get a situation cue: “You were 30 minutes into your treatment when a 20 Alarm sounds.” We set this simulation up with levels so the patient can be guided through resolving the alarm the first time. In this novice level, the patient practices with a lot of guidance. The red circle shown here prompts them to turn the alarm sound off and the options to the right offer possible causes of the alarm.

Once they go through the demonstration level, they come to a screen that simply lets them choose what they want to practice.

The screen above looks very similar to the novice level. They once again get a situation prompt: “You started treatment about 3 minutes ago and just finishing resolving a Check for Aterial Air 11 alarm when the Cycler started sounding again. This time you need to resolve Alarm 10.”

The big difference, however, is that there is no red circle pointing out where to start or what to do.

Simulations contain many game elements

For instance, simulations can:

Have levels of difficulty just like games do
Be graphically rich
Provide a lot of feedback regarding how you are doing.
Present as a challenge that you have to resolve.
Generate a lot of emotion within the participant.

When simulations are not designed as a game, the thing that typically keeps them from meeting the full-fledged definition is the fact that there is no explicit win/lose state. In the dialysis example, there is no scoring and the learner is not trying to “win.” They are also not competing against anyone else or cooperating in order to beat the computer opponent.

An Example of a Game

Is a simulation the “holy grail” of learning games? Are simulations the best way to do learning? Not always. Here’s a mobile game we designed to help sales reps get ready to work directly with customers in selling a new software product. It definitely helps them practice positioning features and benefits of a product… but it is not simulating their real-world environment. They play it in a workshop around a table. Here are three side-by-side screenshots of the smartphone app:

You play this game like Apples to Apples. There is a Round Master who takes the role of a customer. He presents a challenge to the other players, which is an objection or a question. The Round Master can view the optimal response to the situation by tapping FLIP CARD. The other players have access (on their phones) to a variety of responses they could offer. They choose the response card they want and tap LOCK CARD to select it. They must then present this response to the Round Master as though he or she was the actual customer. The Round Master gets to score the response based on how well it matches the optimal response and how well they delivered it. The player who earns the highest point total wins the game.

This is not a simulation but it does let players practice using their selling skills and knowledge of product messaging. It was a big hit with the target players and a very effective way for them to practice their salesmanship.

Hopefully now you a grasp on the differences and overlaps between simulations and games. This spectrum of engaging learning activities covers a wide range of possibilities for your own training. Use these examples to help evaluate whether your training needs call for a simulation or game, or some blend of the two.

The Corporate Learning Guide to Spaced Repetition and Feedback Loops (Free Download)

February 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Learning Research, Quick Tip, Serious Games /by Steven Boller

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There are many causes for ineffective training, but one of L&D’s greatest enemies is forgetting. If learners fail to embed new knowledge into their long-term memory, they will be unable to apply it on the job. When training is treated as a one-time event, tangible results will be limited.

You know there’s a problem. But what can you do about it?

We’ve put together a free guide highlighting the research-based approaches of spaced repetition and immediate feedback. Research has repeatedly shown that using these techniques can increase retention of new knowledge and skills. By basing your own learning designs off of these principles or using a solution that already has the learning principles built in, you can greatly increase what your learners will remember.

What’s in a name?

Spaced repetition goes by several names in the L&D world. You might have heard this technique referred to as spaced learning and repetition, interval reinforcement, distributed practice, the spacing effect, or something else entirely. We have chosen to use the term “spaced repetition” for the purpose of this guide.

Who’s this guide for?

Any business professional looking for one of the following outcomes through a corporate learning program:

Less accidents
More sales
Better customer service
Faster new hire on-boarding
Fewer mistakes

What’s in the guide:

The five corporate learning content areas (accounting for 55% of total training) that benefit the most from spaced repetition approaches.
Five common learning solutions that fail to help learners retain knowledge.
The real story behind the forgetting curve, and what the latest research has to say about Herman Ebbinghaus’ theory.
An introduction to spaced repetition, including “micro spacings” and “macro spacings.”
The difference between feedback that helps learners remember and feedback that doesn’t.
A case study of an organization that used a spaced repetition solution and achieved tangible business results.

Download Guide

Review of Karl Kapp’s newest book on learning games aka serious games

January 22, 2014/1 Comment/in Game Based Learning, Gamification, Learning Game Design, Serious Games /by Sharon Boller

I first met Karl Kapp in late 2012. I was a fan of one of his early books, Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning, which he published in 2007, and I’d also read and enjoyed his recently published The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.. Consequently, I was pretty thrilled when he visited the Knowledge Guru booth at DevLearn 2012 to learn about our newly-launched game engine. He was intrigued enough by its design to check out a session I co-presented with Scott Thomas of ExactTarget on the use of a Knowledge Guru-created game within ExactTarget.

Based on what Karl heard about ExactTarget’s business results, he asked me to contribute a case study to a forthcoming book he was writing with two other main co-authors, Rich Mesch and Lucas Blair. The book, titled The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook, was going to pick up where its predecessor left off. It would offer more in-depth “how-to’s” and include numerous examples of games or gamification being successfully used as a learning strategy.

I contributed my chapter about a year ago. A few weeks ago I was rewarded with a copy of the finished book. I read the entire book (not just my chapter), and I was impressed by the wealth of knowledge it contains. It offers detailed explanations of the terminology of games as well as solid definitions of what a learning game is and how a learning game differs from gamification of a learning solution. Here are several highlights or nuggets from various chapters. If you are serious about wanting to implement learning games or creating a gamification strategy, get the book.

Chapter 4 – Critical Questions for Creating an Interactive Learning Event (aka game)

The section on scoring will be hugely helpful to any new learning game designer. In my own experience, scoring is one of the most difficult aspects of game design to get right. This chapter offers excellent guidance. Karl helps the reader think through the measurement criteria that could be used within a game – and how to decide which ones are relevant for a particular learning game. He specifically speaks to being able to articulate the rationale for the scoring – and keeping it simple enough that the learner/player can understand how a game is scored. He also points out that optimal scoring matches the desired learning outcomes. There are questions and guidelines galore to help the designer figure out how to create a good scoring system within a game.

Chapter 5 – Foundational Elements

First, it’s helpful to a novice game designer to even know what constitutes a “foundational element:” things such as constructs, game mechanics, feedback, challenge, story. Secondly, there’s some key tips here that I’ve learned from experience are absolutely worth listening to:

“Never add things to a serious game or simulation because you think they are cool.” This is a rookie mistake, and you don’t have to make it if you pay attention to this book. In a game, complexity can be fun to design – but complexity can be deadly to the learning process. Your learners/players get so consumed with trying to understand the rules that they have no brain space left for actually learning anything you intended. Yes, I’ve learned this the hard way! (I’ll speak to this at my upcoming session, “Lessons from the Trenches of Digital Game Design” at ASTD TechKnowledge 2014 and Training 2014.)
You have to play games – lots of games – before you can realistically design a good game. Playing games exposes you to the array of game mechanics you can use. As the author notes, “Often when creating a game or simulation, you will…repurpose, recombine, or modify game mechanics from other games that already exist.” You can’t do this if you don’t have experience playing – and evaluating – a ton of games. I’m constantly amazed to find people in our learning game design workshops who don’t play games. It’s tough to design a game if you don’t play them frequently yourself.
Feedback is one of the reasons games are such a powerful learning tool. As players play a game, they constantly get feedback on how well or poorly they are doing, and they get cues on what they can do to adjust their performance. The Fieldbook talks about the impact of feedback on the player and identifies a variety of feedback types that a designer can incorporate into a game. This section is going to be very helpful to the novice designer.

Chapter 6 – The Importance of Narrative/Context/Story

Story helps immerse a player into the game experience AND a story can also help a learner remember the key take-aways from a game experience long after play ends. The author reminds readers that good stories have a beginning, middle, and end and they chart a logical progression of conflict, resolution, and conclusion. This chapter includes a simple template for creating a story, a useful tool for novice and experienced designers alike.

Chapter 7 – Make the Case

This chapter summarizes the research on the efficacy of games as a learning solution. If you want details on a large array of studies you can find them within Chapter 7. For a brief summary, check out this infographic created by our team at Bottom-Line Performance, Inc.

Chapter 13 – Technology Tools

This is a useful chapter for organizations looking to discover what development tools are out there for creating serious games. The delineation between template-based authoring tools, game engines, and gamification platforms is particularly useful.

Chapters 15 – 22

Here you’ll find EIGHT (!) different stories of organizations who implemented a learning game or a gamification strategy related to a business initiative. Readers get the background on the business situation that led to a decision to create a game or gamified strategy, a description of the solution, a summary of the business results achieved, and lessons learned. For folks who need examples to help support their efforts to convince their own organizations to adopt the use of games these chapters will be very helpful.

Summary

I recommend you get the original book (Gamification of Learning and Instruction) and the Fieldbook if you want to have a robust package on your shelf re: learning game design and gamification of learning. You’ll use them again and again in either of these scenarios:

You manage a learning function that wants to implement a game-based solution and you want to sell stakeholders on the idea of using a game or gamification.
You are a designer and you want to build skill in creating learning games.

4 Ways Serious Games Link to Learning (Free Download)

January 15, 2014/3 Comments/in Game Based Learning, Gamification, Learning Game Design, Learning Research, Serious Games /by Steven Boller

A growing body of research supports the use of serious games in the workplace. And thanks to a year of successful implementations in corporate settings, some great case studies now point the way for organizations ready to use games for learning.

Whether you want to use a true serious game, a gamified solution, or a combination of the two… it’s a great time to do so.

While research shows that people learn more from games than other learning solutions, many L&D practicioners still do not know why games work… so they avoid using games entirely.

If you think you want to use a game for learning, you first must become familiar with the types of “fun” in games, what’s required for real learning to happen, and the ways games can link the two.

We’ve created a new guide to help you accomplish this. The content, researched and written by Knowledge Guru creator (and BLP president) Sharon Boller, takes the mystery out of using serious games in the enterprise. It’s a simple thing, really: become familiar with the ways people have fun in games, identify the common principles all effective learning solutions share, and then carefully map the two together.

And once you map the “fun” elements of your serious game to the elements needed for learning, you’ll also want to employ some research-based learning principles to actually help people remember the content after they’ve learned it. Are your game mechanics and game elements actually mapped to the cognitive tasks learners need to perform on the job? Are you taking advantage of the latest research on how the human brain best commits knowledge to long-term memory?

The guide, titled 4 Ways Serious Games Link to Learning, is available as a free download.

The 12 Corporate Learning Content Areas… and Where Games Fit

January 7, 2014/1 Comment/in Game Based Learning, Gamification, Quick Tip, Serious Games /by Steven Boller

When it comes to game-based learning, 2014 is the year of theory moving into practice. An increasing number of organizations are planning initiatives to include games in their learning solutions. The research has been validated and plans are being set.

But if you’ve never designed a game before, or tried to include a game in your training, where do you begin?

The answer, of course, depends on the type of training you are developing. The 2013 ASTD State of the Industry report includes a wonderful table with the twelve most common content areas found in corporate training. Some of these content areas are rather broad, but they are a great starting point for visualizing the types of training we frequently develop. The content areas are shown below:

The type of game you might create will vary widely for each content area. I’ve included a general suggestion or two for each content area below, but the list is not exhaustive! Use the suggestions as a starting point.

Managerial and Supervisory:

Soft-skills training often (but not always) works best in face-to-face situations. Why not use a role playing game to give learners situational practice? Rote Q&A, points, and badges will be of less value.

Mandatory and Compliance:

This is the sort of information we need to know, or our organization needs us to know. Since it often requires memorization, compliance training can be tedious. Consider a game that puts the content in a fun setting and employs some research-based learning principles to help people memorize the information faster.

Processes, Procedures, and Business Practices:

Processes and procedures are often foundational knowledge, just like compliance. Gamifying the process of basic memorization will work well here, but make sure you add context when possible. Even a game centered around Q&A can have context if you add highly relevant scenario questions.

Profession or Industry-Specific:

This topic is admittedly broad, so our suggestion for a game should really be “it depends.” Assuming the subject matter is applied, your game must be a realistic simulation of the work environment, or at least of the cognitive task being performed.

Sales:

Sales training is often face to face because of the interpersonal element. Why not try a tabletop board game? If you need to train virtually, some vendors offer highly immersive digital games where players hone their negotiation and persuasion skills. These approaches can also be helpful, as long as they are not overly simplistic. Since you are designing a game for sales reps, why not make it competitive?

IT and Systems:

The subject is highly technical, and the information often must be memorized. Give learners a game that rewards them for being thorough and helps them reinforce their knowledge through the game’s mechanics.

New Employee Orientation:

New hire training is often basic and foundational. Elements like badges and leaderboards are helpful here because new employees can see how they stack up with others and even form some social connections.

Interpersonal Skills:

A tabletop board game is ideal for soft skills training… especially one that involves scenarios and active communication with other players.

Executive Development:

So many things go into executive development. Resource management and territory acquisition games are excellent for developing strategic thinking.

Customer Service:

A simple card game with customer scenarios can work well here. If the customer service environment is often rushed (such as for food service workers), consider adding a timed element to the game.

Basic Skills:

Basic skills are another type of training that often falls under “foundational knowledge.” Points, badges, and leaderboards are a good start, as you are trying to keep people motivated to learn what they need while knowing that the content itself is not so exciting.

Other (Quality, Product Knowledge):

People need to know it… and this type of training often involves either memorization or knowing where to locate the right information when needed. The game should either employ learning principles that help people memorize quickly (spaced learning, repetition, feedback), or reinforce where they should go to locate the information.

How to Promote a Serious Game to Learners

November 13, 2013/4 Comments/in Game Based Learning, Serious Games, Tutorials /by Steven Boller

If you’re about to launch a serious game in your organization, you’re probably pretty excited about it… and rightfully so. Games are often more engaging and effective than many other learning solutions, so learners should be in for a treat. You might even think that because your game is fun, or at least more fun than the webinars and instructor-led sessions learners are used to, that people will flock to it and start playing.

If you build it, they should come, right? Wrong… unless you promote it.

Yes, the L&D department has to also double as an internal marketing team when it comes time to roll out a new learning solution. Even if learners will benefit from playing a serious game, or even genuinely enjoy it once they start playing, it’s still a new task or set of behaviors you are trying to encourage.

We share the example of Knowledge Guru user ExactTarget frequently because of the bang-up job they did when they first launched their MobileConnect Guru game company-wide. ExactTarget (now a SalesForce.com company) specializes in digital marketing, so they know what they are doing when it comes time to get the word out and get players involved.

ExactTarget did many things right when they launched MobileConnect Guru, which is a big reason why hundreds of players logged significant time in the game… and drove real business results for the company. Let’s take a look at some of the methods they used to promote the game to learners. Consider using some or all of these methods within your own organization to get a serious game off the ground.

Make a Scene

Do you have TV monitors around your office that display company news? What about a bulletin board? Whatever you have, use it! ExactTarget displayed advertisements like the one below all over their offices during the first round of gameplay to turn the game into a big event. They also furnished prizes to the top scores, investing a few hundred dollars in providing incentives people would actually want. Use whatever resources you have available to make your serious game a big deal.

Integrate it into the workflow

ExactTarget has its very own internal social network called 3sixty that’s used for training and communications. Instead of just sticking a hyperlink to the game somewhere deep within 3sixty, you can see how ExactTarget placed the game front and center, integrating it with the rest of the product training. ExactTarget even added a cute “Meet MobileConnectGuru” section and added the weekly leaderboard to the home screen. Nice!

Keep it Consistent

Like a well-planned curriculum, a marketing campaign has to have a long tail with plenty of reinforcement. Rather than posting a banner ad or sending out a single message promoting the game, ExactTarget created multiple banners and internal advertisements to promote MobileConnect Guru for the duration of the game play experience. You’ll see that the advertisement below, while similar to the first image we showed, is different. Think of ways you can get creative and do more than the bare minimum when rolling out your game.

Don’t Forget About Email

Most professionals still live and die by the inbox. That’s a good thing for ExactTarget (they do email marketing!), and also a good thing for you when you want to promote a serious game. Another tactic ExactTarget employed to get players to register for the game and start playing was email messages. The email below is a simple HTML message, reminding people about the game and the prizes available. It’s simple and to the point.

If you don’t have an email client available for use internally, consider setting one up with a free provider like MailChimp. MailChimp is free to use for up to 2,000 email addresses, so chances are you can use it to send some mass messages to your team. If you are using Knowledge Guru to create your serious game, the internal email tool lets you email players once they have created an account.

Reinforcement is key

No matter what serious game you are launching, or what resources you have available to market it internally, think through how you will remind players consistently that the game is available to play. Try to plan at last 3 or 4 different emails spaced out over time, and consider using other internal tools and communications platforms to get the word out. Get managers and supervisors involved early and remember to focus on the fun.