Games for Learning Research Papers (original) (raw)

Desde su introducción, los juegos en linea no han ido bien con todo el mundo. Se refiere en particular a los grupos de edad adulta. Los padres suelen quejarse sobre cómo sus hijos se sienta pegada al ordenador y pantallas de televisión jugando juegos de video cuando deberían haberlo hecho correr y juega al aire libre o mejor leer un libro de cuentos.

- by Antinio Valderas
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- Video Games and Learning, Computer Games Technology, Video Games, Digital Games

Part 1: Introduction. Moves in Mind. Board Games and Cognitive Psychology. The Role of Board Games in Science. The Role of Board Games in Psychology. Structure of the Book. Part 2: Formal Analyses of Board Games. Fundamental Concepts. Board Games in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Information and Complexity Analysis. Game Theory and the Concept of Error. Conclusion. Part 3: Theories of Board-game Psychology. A Brief History of Board-game Psychology. Theories of Chess Skill. Influences from Other Theories of Cognition. Theories of Development and Environment. Conclusion. Part 4: Perception and Categorization. Low-level Perception. High-level Perception and Categorization. Conclusion. Part 5: Memory, Knowledge, and Representations. Memory for Board Positions. Recall of Sequences of Moves and of Games. Estimation of the Number of Chunks in LTM. Mode of Representation. Representations Used in Blindfold Playing. Knowledge and Memory Schemata. Discussion. Conclusion. Part 6:...

- by Jean Retschitzki
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- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Expertise, Games for Learning

As serious games are emerging as a new educational paradigm, it is increasingly important to understand how to integrate educational content into the games, and what elements of the game make learning more effective. This research proposes to add to the work in the area by examining whether learning objectives delivered through the game narratives as text, or learning objectives delivered through game mechanics provide a more effective way of integrating educational content in a game. In order to investigate this question, we designed a study to evaluate two types of participants that were divided into two groups to take part in complementary versions of the game. Participants are asked to play a game in which learning objectives are delivered either through text or game mechanics. An evaluation was performed with 60 participants. The results show that for one of the learning objectives, the participants learn more when the educational content was integrated through the game mechanics and that the difference between the group that learns through text and the one that learned through the game mechanics is statistically significant. For the rest of the learning objectives covered, no statistically significant difference was obtained between the two ways of integrating the learning objectives.

- by Andreea Molnar
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- Educational Technology, Serious Games, Games for Learning, Educational Games

A manifesto is always political in nature. The goal is not to politely ask for change, nor necessarily to aggressively demand it, only to show a new path that leads to a better future than the course currently plotted. Change will always hurt the status quo, but social and cultural change is the only constant of the last half-century, and so policies must be self-aware and open to adaptation or revision too, even when they challenge accepted norms of the past. The mandate of the Gaming Horizons research project was to critically challenge the status quo in video games to potentially foment change. Such a change is to recognise that all types of video games (serious/applied and arts/entertainment, on phones, consoles, traditional computers, or other platforms) are already changing the political, economic, and cultural systems of Europe. These changes, and so this manifesto, need to be implemented by policy makers, but must also be supported and embraced by professional organisations, players, educators, and other stakeholders, if the already ubiquitous medium of games is to be used in a way that is most beneficial for European society.

- by Jeffrey Earp and +2
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- Serious Games, Video Games, Game Based Learning, Digital Games
- by Susanne Tepe and +1
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- Serious Games, Game Design, Occupational Health & Safety, Video Games and Learning
- by Daniel Gonçalves
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- Blindness, Games for Learning, Learning, Interactivity

(in press). In S. Tettegah & W. (D.) Huang. Emotions, Technology, and Games. New York: Elsevier. (Will be freely available for download through open access in October, 2015).
ABSTRACT.
Summary
This case study challenges the assumption that successful game-based learning requires flow experience. Analysis of player logs of gameplay behavior and self-reports of subjective experience (the experience sampling method adapted as the Flowometer with self-perceptions categorized through the channel model as flow, arousal, anxiety, worry, apathy, intrinsic motivation, boredom, routine expertise, control) establish that challenge often exceeds skill during the type of inquiry-based learning that occurs when instructional games scaffold player discovery and application of targeted concepts. This pattern persists when integrated game dashboards allow players to define and achieve expertise. The analysis follows three players during their trajectories toward expertise while playing the online instructional video game Selene: A Lunar Construction GaME: an undergraduate female (USA Midwest university) before and after she achieved an “aha!” learning moment, and two Spanish (non-USA, female and male, 15-year-old) players who used the game and dashboard to achieve expert status for targeted planetary geology concepts achieved by only 1% of Selene players (players = 3882). Theory and data suggest perceived experience during game-based learning (states such as anxiety, worry, and arousal) might be conceptualized as eustress, which is known to accompany successful adaptation.

- by FERNANDA A D O R N O MARTINS
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- Games for Learning, Games, Gamification, Gamification in Education

The role of grammar instruction is inevitably important for second and/or foreign language mastery. Unfortunately, in practice, many English teachers in foreign language contexts such as in Indonesia still teach grammar deductively; that is, learners are provided the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples. This particular method of teaching is believed to produce learners who cannot use the language communicatively although they have considerable knowledge of grammar rules. It has also been seen as contributing to learners’ passive participation and negative feelings towards grammar learning. The aims of this paper are to give an alternative solution to that problem by offering some ideas of game-based activities and to investigate students’ perception of the implementation of communicative game-based grammar learning. Using pre- and post-study questionnaire, the research study was conducted with 30 adult EFL le...

- by Malahayati Siahaan
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- Psychology, Game Based Learning, English Grammar, Games for Learning

Games zijn ontwikkeld voor de vrije tijd, maar kennen steeds vaker een meerwaarde voor in de geschiedenisles. In hoeverre kun je games op een zinvolle manier inzetten in je geschiedenisles? Wat is vandaag de dag de status van het... more

- by Daan van Leeuwen and +1
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- Serious Games, Video Games and Learning, Video Games, History Education

This book is about the three identities of the videogame, the gamer, and Game Studies. I write that there are no definitive truths but rather discourses and constructions; ideas, actions, beliefs, and practices related to videogames are... more

Game designer Will Wright shares thoughts on learning through play and games.

This paper presents two cases on the varied approaches of game-based learning as implemented at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and relevant studies which show the advantages of these approaches in formal education settings For the ludopedagogic case, the use of the computer game Democracy 2 in specified classes at the College of Development Communication (CDC) and College of Human Ecology (CHE) was described. Democracy 2 was used in both institutions as an integrative learning medium, where students were tasked to play the game and share their insights and realizations (through reflective reports) on development issues and the role of government policy on social development. Benefits of using the game were higher-order learning and better appreciation of the complex interactions of the different elements of society on development. For the ludoandragogic case, the Game for Learning (G4L) designed for DEVC 40 (Fundamentals of Educational Communication and Technology), a foundation course offered by CDC, was identified. The course delivery method was modified to accommodate two game systems and technologies (Frets on Fire X, d6) so that the assessment of learner achievement was done through gameplay during and outside class hours. Students found the G4L enjoyable, immersive, and engaging; the course content was also found to be relevant by the students as the content was directly accessible to them through the gameplay. Currently, UPLB faculty are trained to use these game-based learning approaches with a half-day lecture hosted by the Interactive Learning Center (ILC) and showcases the two approaches mentioned. The lecture, part of a one-week seminar and workshop series, culminates with the proposal of learning object designs; some of these designs have adopted gamified mechanics or ludopedagogic approaches.

- by Jon Paul Maligalig
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- Higher Education, Games for Learning, Ludology, Ludopedagogy

Transgender and gender diverse people often experience voice-gender incongruence, which is inversely correlated with health and quality of life. Such incongruence could be reduced with voice and communication training, but expert-administered training is often inaccessible while self-guided training is difficult and potentially risky. Training could alternatively be provided through software (eg, smartphone apps), but such software is at an early stage. This qualitatively driven mixed-methods study thus includes surveys and interviews with 21 transfeminine, transmasculine and nonbinary people to identify general views of voice and communication training software as well as most desirable features of such software. Participants were positive about the general idea and described ways to effectively implement four critical features: feedback, accountability, automated goal setting, and training characteristics other than pitch. They also discussed optional or undesirable features. These findings may inform development of voice and communication training software, thus improving health and quality of life for gender minorities.

- by Vesna Novak and +2
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- Human Computer Interaction, Educational Technology, Serious Games, Transgender Studies
- by Boglarka Zsoter
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- Dance Studies, Dance, Games for Learning, Games
- by Benjamin Burroughs
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- Cultural Studies, Media Sociology, Social Theory, Game Theory
- by Michael Perez
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- Game studies, Serious Games, Video Games and Learning, Computer Games Technology

In this article I propose an approach to a new model of audiovisual representation call virtual playful (MRVL). For this, I rely in part on modeling that focuses on Hollywood cinema, proposed by Jesús González Requena. But, because the object of study I propose is more comprehensive, as it covers various audiovisual media beyond the cinema as deduced from the corpus of work chosen-the Youtube platform, the videogame Stalker and the music video Dancing Anymore - I refer also to other theories and modeling that come from the called game studies. The problem with these studies is that, in general, do
not focus on the substance of the narrative experiences (of which the MRVL assumed its contemporary approach): the emotion and experience of the desire on the part of the
viewer (or better would be called user) through a symbolic horizon full of significance. From this base, I reflect on the type of user who draws this MRVL, for which I have taken the concept of Virtual Self proposed by Ben Agger. For this it would be a person connected to the world through the technological interface; but I redefine it as a user experience that would live within this MRVL that would prevail in a strong narcissism and that, therefore, conclude in an experience empty of sense.

The nascent growth of videogames has led to great leaps in technical understanding in how to create a functional and entertaining play experience. However , the complex, mixed-affect, eudaimonic entertainment experience that is possible when playing a video game-how it is formed, how it is experienced and how to design for it, has been investigated far less than hedonistic emotional experiences focusing on fun, challenge and 'enjoyment.' Participants volunteered to be interviewed about their mixed-affect emotional experiences of playing avant-garde videogames. New conceptions of agency emerged (Ac-tual, Interpretive, Fictional, Mechanical) from the analysis of transcripts and were used to produce a framework of four categories of agency. This new framework offers designers and researchers the extra nuance in conversations around agency, and contributes to the discussion of how we can design video games that allow for complex, reflective, eudaimonic emotional experiences.

- by Tom Cole
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- Video Games, Affective Computing, Digital Games, Affect/Emotion
- by Wagner L Schmit
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- Education, Role-playing Game Theory, Games for Learning
- by Nadya Dewi
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- Teaching and Learning, English Language Learning, Games for Learning

Based on an account of how two classes of primary five students in Singapore engage in the learning of English, mathematics and science by playing the role of global citizens, the paper suggests an alternative but realistic approach to teaching global citizenship education. Set against the back story of Atlantis facing ecological, social and cultural decay due to the blind pursuit of prosperity and modernisation by its rulers, each student became a quester called on to save Atlantis. Throughout the mission they were presented with different problems in Atlantis (similar to existing global issues) and were expected to research and suggest solutions to the problems by alone or with fellow questers. These problems were tied to the primary five English, mathematics and science curriculum. Through documenting and making sense of these activities via observations, interviews and pre-post questionnaire surveys, the paper shows how the new approach may enhance the learning engagement, academic motivation and social commitments among the students. We also explore the sustainability and scalability of such an approach in the school system and highlight constraints. The paper then draws implications for global citizenship education in schools that include designing a meaningful context for engaged learning in schools with components of global citizenship, developing a research culture in schools as a stepping stone for global citizenship education and building capacity of teachers and school leaders in global citizenship.

- by Cher Ping LIM
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- Global Citizenship, Games for Learning, School curriculum

The background of this research is that there are still many histories teachers who have not been able to adjust themselves to the existence of the industrial revolution 4.0, such as not being creative in the use of learning methods and media in history learning. No doubt, in this era, there a lot of students who like games, whether it is based on android applications or websites. This kind of condition should be used by the history teachers by bringing the game into learning, so that history learning is more interesting and different than usual. The purpose of this research is to describe the use of gamification in history learning. Gamification in learning means, applying the working principle to the game into the learning process with the aim to foster curiosity and student learning activities. Applications that can be utilized include: Kahoot, Socrative, class dojo, class badges, class craft, ribbon hero, and others. Gamification requires these elements: point features, badges, levels, leaderboards, challenges, rewards, on boarding, and engagement loops. The steps of using it are started by making learning goals, creating a game scenario, designing learning activities, creating groups, and applying the dynamics of the game. The benefits that can be obtained by using gamification are encouraging students' enthusiasm, increasing curiosity, influencing attitudes, creating innovation, building skills, and acquiring knowledge. Keywords : industrial revolution 4.0, gamification, history learning innovation

- by PATRÍCIA F O N S E C A FANAYA
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- Educational Technology, Games for Learning, Games, Educação

Big data in education has fostered emergent fields like educational data mining (Baker & Yacef, 2009) and learning analytics (Siemens & Long, 2011). Simulations and educational videogames are obvious candidates for the application of these analytic methods, affording big data situated in meaningful learning contexts (Gee, 2003; Steinkuehler et al., 2012). In design of these educational games, clickstream analytics for core design, alpha usertesting, and final-stage adaptive play design play a key role in optimizing learner experience. This paper maps learning analytics methods to these learning game development phases. Leveraging these powerful analytic tools of visualization, association mining, and predictive modeling throughout the design process is key to supporting players in a user-adaptive, engaging play experience optimized for learning.

- by V. Elizabeth Owen
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- Design, Assessment, Video Games and Learning, Game Based Learning
- by Adam S . Kahn
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- Game studies, Serious Games, Video Games and Learning, Video Games

Gamification of Learning and game-based education are now mainstream in the Western educational ecosystem. For example, several universities, through departments established to perform game studies in the early 2000s, are already offering multidisciplinary game-oriented courses; these deal with game design, game-based learning, and games as a medium of entertainment and education. Other institutions, such as Quest 2 Learn (Q2L), have embraced game-based education as their central learning paradigm. Q2L is a middle and high school in the USA that uses game-based pedagogy and andragogy to teach courses in the prescribed curriculum. As early as 2012, this researcher proposed several policies for the adoption of game-based education into the learning systems of the University of the Philippines (UP) System. This paper proposes to take those policies and perform a comprehensive action research on the establishment of game-based education as a learning paradigm in UP Diliman. This research will employ case studies focused on the study and implementation of the following policies proposed in 2012: 1. Creation of interdisciplinary Game-based Education Committee in UP Diliman; 2. Utilization of the Interactive Learning Center (ILC) for game-based learning sessions and game development assistance of faculty; 3. Reorienting courses which may fully utilize game-based education methodologies; 4. Using game-based learning methodologies to enhance large class lecture/recitation classes; 5. Developing a ludoliteracy (game literacy) general education course; and 6. Selling and/or licensing effective game-based learning products developed by UPD to private institutions and the general public. Each of the research's six (6) threads may be undertaken simultaneously and in varying depth, depending on UPD's decision to study, refine, and implement each policy. It is hoped that by studying how the UPD adopts game-based education, a " roadmap " or framework may be developed to help other constituent universities in the UP System successfully adopt the same learning paradigm.

- by Jon Paul Maligalig
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- Educational Administration, Games for Learning, Ludology, Games

- by Joel Mangaba
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- Game studies, Serious Games, Early Childhood Education, Video Games and Learning
- by Francisco Tupy
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- Game Theory, Narrative, Game Design, Video Games and Learning

The aim of this project is to examine the relation between the excess use of technological devices by children, and the development of their mind skills and senses, as well as the main needs of children from 4 to 7 years old, in order to find the optimum way to develop the children’s mind skills and senses. Research, observations, and interviews have been done to gather information and data about the topic, and accordigly, a game was designed to encourage the child to interact with the environment and people around him, as well as saturating his senses.

- by Omnia Mostafa
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- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Personality Psychology, Social Psychology

The goal of this article is to provide a conceptual framework to better understand digital games in learning and creative contexts through the dimensions of play, design, and participation. This framework can be used as a guiding tool for the selection, implementation, and evaluation of game- based approaches in formal and informal educational settings, as well as a blueprint for making sense of playful learning and creativity in virtual worlds and technology-mediated environments. In essence, this article seeks to answer the question “What are digital games and how can we make sense of them for learning and creativity?” The proposed visual model and conceptual framework, here defined as Playful Constructivism, is grounded on the learning theories of Situated Cognition, Social Constructivism, and Constructionism, and draws from play and game studies, design-based learning, and affinity spaces research. This framework is not intended as the “ultimate” conceptualization of game-based learning, but rather as an agile tool that can guide scholars, practitioners, and students through the affordances, challenges, and opportunities of implementing and using digital games in learning and creative contexts.

- by Bogusław Kleszczyński
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- Games for Learning, Ludology, Educational Games
- by Endang S. Irianti
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- Games for Learning
- by Lyn Kajiwara Ackerman and +1
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- Game Design, Use of story-telling in games, Computer Games Education, Games for Learning

It is not common for indigenous peoples, cultures or issues such as sovereignty and land ownership to be the subject of digital games. Previous research has noted that sometimes indigenous people and cultures are depicted rather thoughtlessly, either by ignoring them completely as in the Australian-made Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (Krome 2002-) series, which uses anthropomorphised indigenous animals to recreate elements of aboriginal culture; portraying them as ‘savages,’ such as in the controversial mobile game Survival Island 3: Australia Story (NIL Entertainment 2015); or by appropriating indigenous iconography and culture as is found in Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom 2006). However, there has recently been a number of critically acclaimed gaming projects which deal with indigenous
culture and issues from an indigenous perspective, for example the 2014 game Never Alone, made by Upper One Games in partnership with Alaska’s Cook Inlet Tribal Council. This chapter examines how indigenous culture, history and issues are understood by gaming communities of strategy games and reworked into through practices like modding. Strategy
games are a particularly important area for indigenous representation as they simulate complex history processes, often—explicitly or implicitly—including the colonization of the world by European powers. Through an examination Europa Universalis IV (Paradox Development Studio 2013), the chapter will focus on how forum discussions and practices of playing and modding demonstrate that strategic games are an important site for informal learning and pedagogies regarding history, and how developing playable mods that represent indigenous peoples, cultures and histories, provide valuable corrective perspectives on the misunderstood ways that indigenous issues feature in gaming and indeed much of popular history.
Europa Universalis IV is used as a case study because the game both seeks to obtain a high degree of historical accuracy and supports a large community of modders, who are able to circulate their mods through Paradox’s official online forums. The chapter will use data gathered from the Paradox forums and from a qualitative survey conducted with active forum members, and contextualize modding practices through an auto-ethnographic account of the process of developing a mod ‘Indigenous people of Oceania’ that earmarks the limits of working with software that has an embedded Eurocentric bias in the account of first contact with indigenous people and of colonial conquest and oppression. The chapter finds that while there was considerable interest in indigenous mods among the Paradox community, particularly because many well-known historic groups are represented rather generically, that the modding tools available had some crucial limitations because of the Eurocentric frameworks in which issues such as sovereignty and even the concept of the nation are embedded in the game software. The ‘Indigenous people of Oceania’ mod was able to successfully represent new technology groups to depict the differing lifestyles (nomadic or seafaring) of the indigenous peoples of Oceania, add many new indigenous pacific nations, as well as indigenous religions. But to do so had to reframe nationhood, territory and sovereignty in a European context. However, regardless of the limited potential of modding, the dissemination of the ‘Indigenous people of Oceania’ mod created opportunities for interested parties to learn about the indigenous histories and cultures of the region, and engage with how the structure of the game limited how indigenous people could be represented.

- by Rhett Loban and +1
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- History, Game studies, Postcolonial Studies, Digital Media

In this essay we introduce the special issue of Cognitive Technology on “Games for Good as Cognitive Technologies”. With this special issue we highlight a range of innovative and interdisciplinary research being done within the domain of cognitive technology. This essay introduces the issue and describes the rationale for our focus on games for good. The amount of new research focused on this topic is encouraging and exciting and our goal is introduce researchers in cognitive technologies to this important topic. Our hope is that, from this
introduction, the field will recognize their promise and engage in a broader collaboration to develop, test, and refine these emerging complex forms of cognitive technology.

- by Rudy McDaniel
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- Cognitive Science, Technology, Educational Technology, Video Games

Persuasion in games is in an unusual space. As games mature as a media form, establishing new rules of creation, interpretation and mediation, the volume of academic and scientific research around what games are, what they can do, and how they do it has grown. Psychology has begun to analyze digital games as well, viewing them as a medium identical to other forms of visual media like television and film. While these early attempts illustrate a fundamental immaturity of game studies, they have begun to lay out the initial framework for understanding what games do mentally to players. Games have also begun to reach out and embrace methods of understanding from psychology to create more engaging games. While certain psychological theories, like flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 2008), certainly relate to why people play games for extended periods, designers often stop their excursions into understanding psychology there (Baron, 2012). Understanding other aspects of psychology, like persuasion, allows designers to make their games more than engaging pastimes, but powerful tools for education. Understanding persuasion as a mechanic for games needs to go beyond persuasive rhetorics (Bogost, Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames, 2007) and its structures, but understanding the behavioral roots of persuasion and how they relate to games generally and educational games specifically. This paper will review the concept of flow, what makes an engaging digital game, how games are currently used in education, and how the elements of persuasion can be used in the design of digital education games to become persuasive and engaging educational games.

- by Stephen R Mallory
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- Game studies, Video Games and Learning, Digital Games, Games for Learning

Historical computer games are a relatively young medium but they have a great potential to influence popular perceptions of history. This article addresses the impact of computer games and other media on undergraduates’ interest in history and their historical knowledge. On the basis of evidence collected through a survey conducted at the University of Winchester this paper argues four key points: Firstly, computer games can strongly influence undergraduates’ perspectives of history. Secondly, computer games exert most influence on students’ understanding of
periods which they have not previously studied. Thirdly, different genres of computer games influence students in different ways. Fourthly, male and female students are influenced to different extents by computer games.

- by Robert Houghton
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- History, Ancient History, Modern History, Education

Learning happens everywhere but where and how you learn make all the difference. With increasingly ubiquitous technology in schools, it is imperative that educational leaders must select the right device for teaching and learning. The right learning framework suitable for the student's grade level will activate their new pedagogical priorities and create their own artifacts of learning. This paper presents a comparative analysis between computer game-based learning and mobile game-based learning as the learning framework in Preschool Education in the Philippine setting when delivering effective digital game-based learning. A technical comparison was made to ascertain the implications of the selected learning medium in DGBL. The study was then evaluated based on the device assessment of the pupils covering various aspects such as availability, technical adequacy, usability, preference, enjoyment, and game repository. Another evaluation was made with regards to the learning criteria of the pupils when using a device based on the following criteria: learning objective, learning experience, learning engagement, skill scaffolding, and game storyline. Research data were collected within a city both in public and private schools using stratified random sampling. The researchers determined if there is a significant difference between computer and mobile as the learning medium of DGBL to provide a basis to educational leaders when choosing between CGBL and MGBL.

The progressive spread of interpersonal communication devices and their evolution into more and more versatile, pervasive, ubiquitous and user-friendly systems contribute to the contemporary process of creating new systems of languages and social behaviours. Today, we witness the constant progress and emergence of an interactive language that is strongly focused on visual and experiential culture. In particular, the technological context characterizing the contemporaneity and the youth’s daily life are strongly interwoven, leading new generations - the digital natives - to develop from an early age an entrenched ability to interact with the communication tools.
Referring to the analysis of contemporary scholars (Castells, Jenkins, Flusser) we can affirm that the technological revolution is leading to a new people-to-technology relationship; therefore, there is an urgent need to revisit the traditional epistemological paradigms of dissemination and learning of information. The socio-technological transformation strongly influences our attitude to experience space, time, contents as a way to know and learn. The experience concept assumes an important role for the Communication Design field, which is now enriching itself through the relationship with other disciplines. In this scenario, the connection with Game Studies assumes a great importance and many scholars (Salen & Zimmerman; Montola; Juul) consider the gameplay experience as a crucial point.
In this paper we observe how the Communication Design might embrace the Game Design paradigms and methods, aiming supporting to support the learning of contents, attitudes and best practices. We emphasize the meaning of “learning”, reading it as a process aiming to develop abilities and knowledge; we also refer to any activities that lead to define, obtain and consolidate awareness, whether instrumental, social, behavioral, mental (Koster).
In the thousand-year-old study of the learning process, we are now in a phase wherein the learn by doing paradigm becomes more and more important (Castells; Prensky) and acquires new tools and methodologies. We propose to consider the game and its prominent role in the coeval panorama: its contemporary typologies and state of the art demonstrate its aptitude to act as an interdisciplinary tool. The game is able to involve users in immersive experiences, stimulate the reflection and act on attitudes and habits. It is also important to deem the role of the play activity as a communication and learning mean. People learn by playing thanks to game’s motivational system, that can actually improve cognitive capacity and the ability to abstract, learn and act with awareness (Salen; Juul; Flanagan).
We propose QRiosity, a pervasive game we designed and performed with the Around Play and Interaction Design Research Group, based on the interaction among space, mobile technologies, people and knowledge. It leads players to interactively explore an environment, that is able to react to their actions. It explores the idea of space as a storyteller focusing on the benefit coming from the act of experiencing space and contents through a ludic intervention. QRiosity is an applied playfulness system that induces players to be in a state of psychological flow (Csikszentmihalyi): it is an actual example of the aptitude of people to learn through a ludic process that increases the cognitive process of learning by experiencing.

- by Ilaria Mariani
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- Game studies, Play, Game Design, Outdoor Play and Learning