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INFOMSEGA7.5 ECTSQ4EnglishMaster

Serious gaming

FaculteitFaculty of Science
NiveauMaster
Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

The intended learning outcomes for a student that attends the course are the following:
  • explain and differentiate core concepts and main application domains of serious games
  • describe and execute the overall production process for serious games
  • design, develop, and evaluate an (early stage) serious game prototype
  • present the primary objective, design, and evaluation of a serious game

Assessment
The assessment will include an exam and a group project in which you will design, implement, and evaluate a serious game with a primary objective of your choice and deliver a technical report, a video, and game presentation.

The assessment will be weighed as follows:

  • group project (60% of the final mark)
  • final exam (40%).

To qualify for a repair of the final result the mark needs to be at least a 4 and the best-efforts obligation has to be fulfilled.

Content

Serious games are digital games in which the primary objective is not player entertainment, but rather training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication.
In this course, we provide an introduction to the world of serious games, explore their application domains, and examine the key activities that concern the creation of a serious game following a principled production, design and evaluation paradigm.
Students will learn how to design, develop, and evaluate a serious game prototype.

Course topics include:

  • basics of serious games
  • user-centered design of serious games and prototyping
  • game play and game mechanics
  • game narration and storytelling
  • psychological and pedagogical theories
  • personalization
  • persuasive gaming
  • evaluation of serious games

Course form
Classes will incorporate practical sessions, group activities, discussions, gaming and guest speakers.

In addition to actively participating in the lectures, the students - organized in teams - are expected to conduct the following activities:

  • organize and conduct an review of existing serious games with a representative use case
  • design and implement a prototype of a serious game, using knowledge and theory from recent literature
  • design and conduct an evaluation of the serious game prototype
  • deliver a presentation concerning the designed serious game and its evaluation
  • write a technical report concerning the review of the domain, the design, implementation, and evaluation of the serious game
Literature
Potential books of interest: Additional academic papers will be provided during the course.

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