Module: GDT6002-20 Serious Games

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor:  James TerKeurst

Module Tutor Contact Details: j.terkeurst@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:  

Do games have the power to change the world? Many developers in the field of serious games believe so. Games have an incredible potential to share knowledge and experiences to the people who engage with them. As a prominent cultural medium in society they also have a huge impact on our understanding of the world around us. 

A serious game is a game designed with a primary purpose other than entertainment. This broad definition creates wide scope for design innovation. Serious Games are often used to explore and even help address real-world problems in fields such as education, health, defence, emergency planning, sustainability and business. 

A serious game can take a number of forms and focuses including:

• Simulation (exercising skills in decision making and strategy)

• Persuasive (attempting to influence opinions or change behaviours)

• Productivity (gamifying tasks)

• Knowledge (supporting learning through gameplay)

• Well-being (encouraging personal development and lifestyle changes)

This module is a practice-based introduction to serious games. You begin by playing and analysing key examples to build an understanding of outcome-focused and process-orientated game structures. Following this you conduct research into a chosen topic of enquiry to develop a deeper understanding of the motivations, opportunities, challenges and ethical dimension of serious games. The module then moves to practical development, tasking you to generate an original short-form game that serves a purpose beyond entertainment. Here you define the game’s contextual focus and learning objectives, and design gameplay that meets such objectives while remaining sensitive to the topic in focus.

2.Outline syllabus:

• Defining serious games

• A typology of serous games

• Ethical considerations

• Design: identifying the audience

• Design: player motivations

• Design: learning objectives

• Design: formulating game mechanics

• Development: creating a proof of concept

• Development: target platforms

• Testing: identifying appropriate methods and play testers

• Testing: assessing learning and presenting results

• Research methods

3.Teaching and learning activities:

Class Hours

Seminars offer context to serious games and provide opportunities to test and evaluate key examples. Discussion on contemporary themes and issues of ethics within the field assist you in defining the topic for your research essay and later your original serious game. Workshop sessions allow time to shape your serious game, and for regular review with tutors who help you maintain focus on the core motivations and objectives of the project.

Independent Learning

Serious games is an expansive yet relatively new field of study. To understand the form you should play celebrated examples, and spend time critically reflecting on how their art style, tone, content and gameplay come together to realise core objectives. When commencing work on your own serious game, you should maintain proximity with underpinning theory in the field to inform your design decisions. As serious games are nuanced and require shaping, it is also important that you lend significant time and effort to playtesting and iterating work in progress.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Research essay (2,000 words) 

• % Weighting: 40%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Serious game. With supporting documentation.

• % Weighting: 60%