What Makes a Good Serious Game - Conceptual Approach Towards a Metadata Format for the Description and Evaluation of Serious Games
Key: GGS11-1
Author: Stefan Göbel, Michael Gutjahr, Ralf Steinmetz
Date: October 2011
Kind: In proceedings
Publisher: Academic Conferences Limited, Reading, UK
Book title: 5th European Conference on Games Based Learning
Keywords: Serious Games, metadata format, evaluation, rating, exergames, educational games
Abstract: Serious Games (games ‘more than fun’) combine game technology and game-based methods and concepts with further technologies and research disciplines such as ICT, digital media, sensor technology, psychology, pedagogy or sports science and apply it for different application domains. Prominent examples represent games for health, persuasive games, advergames or games for education and training. But what makes a good Serious Game? The paper starts with a basic understanding/definition of Serious Games being elaborated and presented at the Serious Games Conferences 2010 and 2011, followed by an analysis of related work and relevant aspects for the elaboration of a metadata format for the description and evaluation of Serious Games. This includes parameter sets for game studies and rating systems and evaluation criteria for (serious) game awards as well as usability and user experience issues and evaluation frameworks for Serious Games and educational games in particular. Based on the results of the analytic work, chapter three introduces a rough concept for an extensible metadata format for Serious Games (MDF-SG), offering a ‘core’ level with essential information about a serious game and a comprehensive MDF-SG Level 2, which might serve as basis for the evaluation of Serious Games. Further, MDF-SG foresees the concept of application ‘profiles’ for dedicated Serious Games application fields. Finally, a conclusion summarizes the main results and points out further research investigations and aims to encourage an interdisciplinary discussion – also among academia and industry – with regard to a detailed definition of the format ( standardisation).
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