Developing serious game design guidelines based on a state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Serious games have become more common, and they are often used for educational purposes. For these games, VR technology has become a useful tool for creating alternative training environments. This raises the question of which game design choices would best optimize the learning effect. The purpose of this thesis was to research design guidelines for educational serious games and recommend design changes for three existing game modes of a simulation game called PaimioVR, which teaches players to change electricity pole insulators. The research review revealed that Multimedia Learning Theory contained the most promising state-of-the-art guidelines for developing educational serious games. Design elements from the PaimioVR game were collected and compared with research findings. This formed the basis of the design change recommendations for the game. While the single-player mode followed most of the theoretical recommendations, the same was not true for the co-op, or competitive modes, both of which had minor shortcomings in the game tutorial. A common deficiency for all the game modes was a lack of final evaluation at the end of the game. While PaimioVR has some room for improvement, it still follows most of the good design principles to support learning and its different game modes allow some flexibility with players. Finally, it is recommended to further research the effect a timer may have on player behavior and learning.