Designing a 3D serious game about career pathways in the games industry

Gavin Baxter, Thomas Hainey, Alan Williams, Julie Black

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to give a detailed overview of the development of a 3D serious game that informs game students about career pathways in the games industry. The paper provides a scoping review on the key principles related to serious game design. These core design issues are reiterated in relation to how the development of the game has adhered to them. The paper illustrates the game’s audit trail in terms of implementation providing a development blueprint for other educators to follow when developing an educational game. The learning outcomes of the game are also accentuated and how the implementation of the game has catered for them. An important aspect of the paper is to highlight how the underlying aspects of game design can accommodate intrinsic content and motivation whilst accommodating the various pedagogical frameworks embedded in the gameplay. The characterising goals of the game have adopted a linear and cyclical approach that allows the player to progress through the gameplay completing formative and summative assessment challenges. The serious game was developed using the Unity game engine adopting a hub and spoke design. A key challenge when designing the game was how to ensure that the game remained endogenous when designing the game’s levels. The design considerations presented in this paper provide a solid implementational framework about how to implement principles of learning and assessment associated with employability skill sets with a specific focus to the games industry.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 17th European Conference on Games Based Learning
EditorsTon Spil, Guido Bruinsma, Luuk Collou
PublisherAcademic Conferences International Limited
Pages60-68
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781914587894
ISBN (Print)9781914587887
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Sept 2023

Publication series

NameACI Conference Proceedings
PublisherACI
Number1
Volume17
ISSN (Print)2049-0992
ISSN (Electronic)2049-100X

Keywords

  • serious games
  • games industry
  • graduate skill sets
  • employability
  • career pathways

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