[SOUND] Look at the pictures on the screen. The first depicts a game of chess, the second one a game of hide and seek. Although both are called games, it will not be difficult to imagine the differences. While chess is played a fixed number of two people. Hide and seek is a group game that can be played by two or more. To play chess, a chess board and chess pieces are necessary. While hide and seek does not require very specific playing objects. The children can use already existing things to hide. A tree, for example. Now, try to think of the similarities between these two games. Can you name one? Okay, let's go over the similarities together. This is important because these similarities form the building blocks to define games. Usually games share five specific characteristics. They are goal oriented. You have to follow specific rules while playing them. They have some kind of feedback system when you play. And often there is a competition element. Finally, they are voluntary meaning that you decide if you like to play or not. We will now take a closer look at the game of chess. The animation shows you the five characteristics applied to this particular game. >> So, you've invited a friend over to play a nice game of chess. Well, nice. Of course you both try your hardest to win, and to do so you have to take her king. But that's easier said than done. There are a lot of rules you have to take into account. All the pieces start at a fixed place for example. And each piece can only move across the board in a certain way. Hey, hey, that's cheating. The game's going pretty well, that is until you make a wrong move and one of your pieces immediately gets taken. Luckily in the end, you still win and your friend, well. [MUSIC] >> Well, this was quite a competition until one player reached his goal. The rules of chess stand out in particular when they are broken. Here it resulted in immediate feedback. Concerning the voluntary nature of play, well they choose themselves to play. But whether these two will ever play again, I don't know. So now you understand the basic characteristics of games in general. These characteristics apply to entertainment games, the types of games most people are familiar with. However, many people do not know serious games and there is often confusion about the term. We have to admit it sounds like an oxymoron. The words serious and games seems to be contradicting each other. Can games be serious and does that mean that they're not fun at all? Well serious games can definitely be fun. But the most important thing that sets them apart from entertainment games is their educational purpose. Serious game developers intend to teach their players something. For example, awareness of a certain issue, information, or an attitude change. The makers of serious games supply motivation principles from entertainment games and use these to teach their players something in an engaging way. The purpose of the game is thus different from pure entertainment games. Also, entertainment games might teach their players something, but their primary motive is to entertain. Taking this primary difference into account, the definition of serious games we will use in this course is as follows. Serious games are games that use computer game and simulation approaches or the technologies for, primarily, non-entertainment purposes. An example of a serious game is Darfur is Dying. In this game the player is a refugee in Darfur who needs to survive. If you play, you would, for example, need to get water from well. There are obstacles you need to conquer, for example, hostilities from militia. During the game, you are informed about the situation of refugees in Darfur and you are prompted to take action in real life. The makers of the game hope that by playing, you get more involved and knowledgeable of the situation. We will address this particular game and its aims in more detail In the next video. A serious game can have all the elements that characterize any other game like chess, as discussed in the beginning of this video. It can be goal-oriented with specific rules or feedback system and a competitive comparative element. The only characteristic that is sometimes not present in serious games is the voluntary character. Since these games are generally used in an educational setting or a training situation, players will often be asked or told to play a certain simulation or a game. Serious games are different from other media products, such as education movies or books, because they offer an experience in which the player is actively involved in making decisions. The player is immersed in the gaming experience and is receiving feedback over his or her own physicians. This is also why serious games are supposed to achieve a better learning outcome. According to the researchers Ritterfeld, Cody, and Vorderer, who wrote a book on the mechanisms and effects of serious games. Serious games are both educational and enjoyable because they are intrinsically motivating. The game environment is responsive and can have a complexity that allows for learning opportunities. In this MOOC, we do not consider serious games to be a genre. Serious games can be made in all game genres that you can imagine, from shooters to strategy games to guess you games on your phone or in the form of large scale simulation games. Sometimes even advertisements are made in the form of a serious game. Later in this course we will present a classification of serious games based on the sector they are applied in, such as health or education. But first my colleague Joyce Nace will introduce you to our first case, Darfur is Dying. Check it out in the next video.
