42056 Serious Games Research
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade, no marks
Requisite(s): 32003 Computer Game Design
Anti-requisite(s): 31248 Serious Games and Gamification Studio
Description
This studio subject focuses on the practical aspects of designing and investigating the impact of serious games and gamified experiences. Serious games are interactive playful systems designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment (for example education, training, fitness, rehabilitation, among others).
This subject exposes students to state-of-the-art frameworks and techniques for designing bespoke games for specific audiences and purposes. Students learn to work closely with the end-user to propose game-like solutions to a real-life problem. This involves co-design workshops, development of prototypes, playtesting sessions, and evaluation to ensure successful outcomes. Students also learn about ethical and design considerations that must be taken into account when designing serious games.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Apply professional standards relating to Indigenous Australian contexts when designing games and serious games. (A.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Evaluate ethical, cultural, and societal considerations when designing a bespoke serious game or gamified experience. (B.1) |
| 3. | Design a game-like prototype that serves a specific purpose for a specific audience. (C.1) |
| 4. | Critically reflect on one’s own designs and iteratively propose alternate game-like solutions that fit a purpose and benefit an audience. (F.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Indigenous Professional Capability: FEIT graduates are culturally and historically well informed, able to co-design projects as respectful professionals when working in and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. (A.1)
- Socially Responsible: FEIT graduates identify, engage, and influence stakeholders, and apply expert judgment establishing and managing constraints, conflicts and uncertainties within a hazards and risk framework to define system requirements and interactivity. (B.1)
- Design Oriented: FEIT graduates apply problem solving, design thinking and decision-making methodologies in new contexts or to novel problems, to explore, test, analyse and synthesise complex ideas, theories or concepts. (C.1)
- Reflective: FEIT graduates critically self-review their own and others' performance with a high level of responsibility to improve and practice competently for the benefit of professional practice and society. (F.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
In the first half of the semester, students will be presented with the theoretical foundation for designing and developing a serious game. Each lesson will include a case study focusing on the successes, challenges and lessons learnt from real-life research projects that used serious games for various purposes (including health, language preservation, rehabilitation, education, among others).
As new concepts and topics are introduced, students will be expected to reflect on how these could be incorporated in their own semester project.
The second half of the teaching session focuses on putting in practice all the skills learned up to this point. Students will design and develop a game-like prototype that helps a specific audience achieve a meaningful real-world outcome. For this, they will work closely with the audience they are designing for and will receive guidance from the subject coordinator / tutor.
Students will be exposed to a mix of user-centred design methodologies that will help them understand the needs and preferences of a target audience including participatory design, small focus groups, workshops, to name a few.
Also, students will follow a series of agile game development principles to efficiently build rapid game prototypes that illustrate core game mechanics and formal elements chosen for their games.
This includes sprint planning meetings, SCRUM meetings and review meetings. Formative feedback will be provided by the subject / coordinator during such meetings (in class).
At the end of the session, students will demonstrate their game prototypes to the UTS community in the form of a showcase.
Content (topics)
Part 1: Introduction
1. Introduction - What are Serious Games and Gamification?
2. What makes a game a game? (Review: Game Theory, Dramatic and Formal Elements, etc)
Case Study 1 – Last Island: Exploring Transitions to Sustainable Futures through Play
3. Types of Serious Games (Gamification, Simulations, Games, etc)
Case Study 2 – Experience Dementia: A Virtual Reality Simulation
Part 2: How to design a Serious Game?
4. Understanding your Audience (what motivates your user, human-centred design)
Case Study 3 – Serious Games for Preserving Australian Aboriginal Languages
5. Understanding the Problem (What is the behavioural change you are trying to achieve?)
Case Study 4 – Project ELAINE: An asynchronous exergame to encourage older people to stay active
6. Propose a solution using Persuasive Gaming (mapping game elements & mechanics to the solution in order to create a behavioural changes)
Case Study 5 – Project NATAL: An exergame for weight management in Pregnancy
7. Evaluating Outcomes (How do we know we are achieving a real-life benefit? how do we automate evaluation? How can we visualise data?)
Case Study 6 – StepKinnection: A Bespoke Game for Falls Prevention
Part 3: Developing a Serious Game
8. Semester Project – Design a Serious Game
Part 4: Communicating your Findings
9. How to write scientifically about the design and evaluation of serious games
10. The future of Serious Games and Gamification (Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, AI)
11. Demos and Presentations
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Project Proposal
| Intent: | To define the scope of their projects by identifying their target audience, intended real-world outcomes, design challenges and steps required to develop a game-like prototype. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 2 and 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1 and C.1 |
| Type: | Design/drawing/plan/sketch |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 15% |
| Length: | 3 - 4 pages |
Assessment task 2: Reflection: Designing Serious Games for Indigenous Australians
| Intent: | To use case studies to translate information that can be used for making informed key design decisions for their serious game projects. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 and 4 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): A.1 and F.1 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 3 - 4 pages |
Assessment task 3: Project Deliverables
| Intent: | To recognise the value of an iterative process where feedback and reflection inform improvements to design. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 2, 3 and 4 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1, C.1 and F.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 65% |
| Length: | 12 pages |
Minimum requirements
To achieve a pass grade, students must meet the pass grade requirements stipulated in the subject’s performance standards.