Why Serious and Educational Games are interesting?
Digital games have become an essential part of millions of individual’s daily lives and are now highly recognized because of its potential of posing as environments for supportive learning. Its wide popularity and ability to increase engagement to people have been praised as tools that enable a whole new portal for learning and education.
Serious games, for instance, are the types of games that are explicitly designed for educational purpose or may have incidental learning value on the other side. These are games that are specifically designed to teach people on certain topics, understanding culture or event, expanding ideas or reinforcing development as they play.
Serious Gaming and Its Impact on Learning
According to Michigan State University, gaming provides powerful learning experience as it increases absorption of information. As such, the gamer can retains up to ten times more information than standard learning. Other researchers have also shown higher efficiency and retention on games and simulations while helping a gamer understand the concept faster (40%-70%), compared to the basic classroom teaching.
Serious or applied games are simulations of the realistic scenarios or events designed to address an existing problem. Although they come as entertaining, their major purpose is to educate or train the users. Through the applied games, learning, whether it is corporate, educational or a reinforcement, is being taken seriously now than ever.
People are always looking to find ways to engage and excite their learners and with the wide adaption of technology as base for learning, there is a tighter need for a more engaged approach as well. This is why more professionals are now coming up with wise decision to involve gaming as part of the process. Rather than give the individuals the generic experience that may only cater to a certain type of learner, serious games are able to adjust the entire gameplay based on the player’s decisions and actions. Their experience will be customized according to their performance and preferences and can change their difficulty and rewards accordingly.
Serious games are different from other approaches of learning by carrying out rewarding, rich, relevant and versatile environments that the player can actually put a lesson into practice – all in a safer manner without compromising learning. It also offers flowing feedback and team learning in an authentic environment where players are motivated to achieve game goals.
Games and technology are expected to be used to simulate real-world problems in the future. For instance, rules and regulations on the road by the professional sector can make use of simulations to educate the drivers on a safer and responsible driving. This type of serious game is bound to replicate real stresses on the road without the actual risk factor associated with driving. A good example of such game is the one developed by Pixelhunters and AMV IT Consultants for Dubai Public Prosecution. The game replicates all rules and sanctions that exist in the real life, while enjoying driving in a full replica of some of the most famous Dubai roads. To learn more about this project, please visit www.dubaidrive.ae
Serious gaming development forms a critical bridge to make learning smarter. Although this process is still in its earlier stages, a game-based education has the vivid potential to carry out sophisticated results to millions of its users.
If you are interested in serious game development, Pixelhunters will be happy to assist you.