Solutions
Serious Games
WisdomTools LLC and parent company Information in Place have been at the forefront of instructional technology since inception, and our work in Serious Gaming is no exception. Click on the links below to learn more about the different types of serious games and our current projects.
What is a Serious Game?
Serious games, also called training games and immersive learning simulations, are games that are designed for a primary purpose beyond that of entertainment. Serious games are used in science, health care, emergency management, city planning, education, engineering, religion, politics, and many other areas.
The goal of a serious game is to capitalize on the sophisticated design, techniques, and technologies found within commercial video games that engage, motivate, and educate players. For more information on serious games and other innovative training technologies, check out our publications, contact us via email at info@wisdomtools.com, or call us toll free at (866) 619-3676.
Why should I use a Serious Game?
One of the top reasons that so many industries are turning to serious games as a learning solution can be summed up in two words: learner motivation. In order to teach effectively, any learning solution must be able to maintain learner attention. Serious games maintain learner attention by adding an element of fun to even dry subject matter by providing a challenging, competitive, low-stakes space that allow learners to explore and learn within an environment that is safe, low-risk, and engaging.
Are there different kinds of Serious Games?
Serious games come in a huge variety of formats, including everything from board games to massive multiplayer online role-playing games. At WisdomTools, when we talk about serious games, we're talking about electronic video games that are designed to teach and meet specific learning objectives. Our serious games solutions fall into three main categories--role-playing games, microgames, and virtual world simulations.
Role-Playing Games
A computer role-playing-game (RPG) is an immersive adventure game that places one or more characters in a rich, dynamic world that encourages story-telling and character relationships. RPGs rely on tactical and strategic choices during game play, rather than physical skill. This facet of game play challenges players to make smart decisions about how to "level-up" their character and progress, and to carefully consider their interactions with social and physical environments uncovered during the game. This aspect of RPGs makes them uniquely suitable for use in serious gaming contexts, because game play is already set up to encourage players to learn. The only difference between entertainment-only RPGs and serious gaming RPGs is that the educational content of a serious game transfers over to real-life contexts and problem solving skills. WisdomTools has current RPG serious gaming projects that teach on topics such as civics and space exploration.
In role-playing games, the relationships between player characters and non-player characters enable rewarding experiences that keep players coming back for more--the "addictive" quality of gaming that makes serious games a uniquely effective and motivating learning tool. A "typical" RPG relies on multiple economic systems to shape game play and ensure that the experience is different each time the player goes through the game. Economies can be seen in character statistics or "stats" that represent personal attributes such as strength, stamina, mental awareness, etc. Economies are also commonly represented by in-game currency such as gold or even reputation with other characters or factions in the game. Players generally have a limited amount of points to spend as they progress through the game, which makes it unlikely that two players will ever have the exact same character or gaming experience. Point limitations built into game economies also encourage motivation and repeat play, as players compete with themselves or other players to amass the highest number of points possible.
The story aspect of RPG gaming usually unfolds through a "quest" system, in which the player begins by interacting with a small group of people, and as the player completes missions for those characters, the plot branches out into more and more quests as the player gains the trust of the in-world characters. This aspect of RPG game play encourages learners to place events and knowledge acquired into specific contexts, which is also a key element of story learning. Quest givers provide rewards with things such as money, items, and keys that unlock new doors and story branches. Over time a player may complete all of the quests in an area and move on to a new world or new location, continuing the adventure in far-away places. This quest-based format makes it easy to add on new content as the training content expands and evolves over time.
Microgames
Sometimes 20 or more hours of content and hours of game play is way too much. For training on simple concepts or to easily integrate gaming into an existing class, microgames are the answer. Microgames, which are games that require 5-20 minutes to play, can provide short bursts of entertainment to inject an element of fun into dry content or for drill-and-practice content, such as flash-card games. Microgames can be as complex as a side-scrolling adventure game with three or four levels or as simple as a single-level arcade game.
Microgames are often similar in format and style to free online flash games and feature a tight and focused game design. Trivia games, match-three games, pinball, and time-management games are all excellent examples of microgame content. Microgames tend to be single-player experiences that don't take much time to play, but simultaneously offer lots of replay value. These games can used as excellent training tools with learning content built into the core mechanics of the game, in which players are rewarded with points for right answers, and given custom feedback for wrong answers. WisdomTools has an upcoming line of customizable microgames that were designed for the worker health, and safety market and which are flexible enough to be used for virtually any type of content.
Virtual World Simulations
A virtual world game (also known as a simulation or immersive learning simulation) places the player in semi-realistic settings and situations for the purposes of training, community-building, and strategic planning. Simulation games appeal to all types of players, as it can be fun to experience the world through the eyes of another person. Virtual worlds allow players to develop strategies and tactics that are applicable to the real-world, while allowing the learner to experiment or practice and perfect those tactics over and over again in a format that is more fun and lower risk than real-world experimentation. Virtual world simulations can cover almost any topic imaginable, from learning how to drive a car to piloting an aircraft to securing a building from hazardous materials.
Simulations are excellent learning tools because they are both more cost-effective and lower in risk than practice that takes place in the real world. The value of simulations in learning contexts is especially clear when training for events that are difficult, time consuming, expensive, or dangerous to simulate in real life. Simply put, organizations can save a lot of money and even lives in the real world, simply by trying things out in a virtual world first.
Personalized instruction from content experts helps define the content of a virtual world game and ensures that player actions and conceptions are both accurate and relevant. In combination with today's virtually-anywhere personal computer accessibility, players can train anywhere on virtual equipment for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. Virtual worlds can also host one or more players at the same time, which makes it an excellent option for team exercises -- even when training requires multiple people to work together as a team, even when they are located across the country, around the world, or just down the hall. By providing in-game chat, voice, training materials, or even instructor-led content, virtual world simulations make distance learning classes closer to real-life instruction than ever before.
Players can re-play scenarios multiple times to improve their scores, and sophisticated data collection programs can be used by trainers and content instructors to help tailor and assess both scenario relevance and learner performance.