5WSEL007W GAME ON: ‘SERIOUS
GAMES’ PRODUCTION,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SOCIAL
CHANGE
Module aims and objectives

This module introduces students to ‘Serious Games’ and their use in support of
campaigns for social causes, education and training.

The module examines how ‘gamification’ can be used as a means to influence behaviour
and motivation in commercial and non-commercial settings.

Students will gain experience of how to apply design principles to create engaging and
visually appealing board and electronic games.

You will work with Adobe Captivate software to create an electronic game around a
chosen topic and theme.

You will also learn how to design a marketing plan for the promotion of your game to
potential clients.

The module provides a rich environment for students to acquire technical, creative and
transferable skills, including entrepreneurial, communication, and project managing
skills, valuable for your professional development.

The module will also help you to enrich your portfolio and increase your employability.
Requirements to join the module

Be creative

No prior knowledge in programming or game design

Helps to have some background in graphic design or good graphic skills, but
not necessary
‘Serious Games’ & ‘gamification’

serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem and
training

Gamification is the concept of using
game mechanics
and experience design
to digitally engage and
motivate people
to achieve their goals
[B. Burke (2014) http://blogs.gartner.com/brian_burke/
2014/04/04/gartner-redefines-gamification/]
game mechanics is the use of elements such as points, badges
and leaderboards that are common to many games
experience design is the journey players take with elements
such as game play, play space and story line
gamification is a method to digitally engage, rather than
personally engage, meaning that players interact with
computers, smartphones, wearable monitors or other digital
devices, rather than physically engaging with a other people
the goal of gamification is to motivate people to change
behaviours or develop skills, or to drive innovation

Gamification taps into the basic desires
and needs of the users impulses which
revolve around the idea of status and
achievement.

Samples of serious games developed at the Serious Games @ Westminster research group
gamification focuses on enabling players to achieve their
goals. When organizational goals are aligned with player goals,
the organization achieves its goals as a consequence of players
achieving their goals
Why Adobe Captivate?

Adobe Captivate is a rapid responsive authoring tool that is used for
creating elearning, emarketing content such as software
demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, simple
games (in terms of interactivity), and randomized quizzes in Small
Web Formats (.swf) and HTML5 formats.

It does not require programming it provides programmable routines

Jobs for people knowing to use Adobe Captivate

https://www.indeed.co.uk/Adobe-Captivate-jobs
Samples of games you will learn to create

http://vbouki.com/captivate/knowledge2/

http://vbouki.com/captivate/snakesladders/

Samples of projects you could create

http://vbouki.com/test/story_html5.html

http://resources.bishopmuseumeducation.org/resource_type/int
eractive/hokulea/story_html5.html

http://www.timneill.org.uk/Demos/story_html5.html
Samples of student projects that have been created
in 2016/17
Game of power video demo

Introduce Marxism as a
basic idea of
socioeconomic analysis
of class relations and
societal conflict

The goal of our game is
to demonstrate the
dynamics and positions
of capitalists and labour
Samples of student projects that have been created in 2016/17
Game of power video demo
Samples of student projects that have been created
in 2016/17
Refuge video demo

To raise awareness about the Syria
refugee crisis

The goal of our game is to raise awareness
about the path of a refugee and draw
compassion from westerners in order to
reduce the hate and anger towards them.
Samples of student projects that have been created
in 2016/17
Graphics
Samples of student projects that have been created
in 2016/17
cards
International student collaboration

You will have the opportunity to take
part to an international student
collaboration with Graz University of
Technology, Information Systems and
Computer Media (IICM) “Games Lab”

Prepare for taking part at game jams
and game Hackathons
Student experience and challenges

Work as a team

Split the work

Allocate tasks

Research the topic

Design the game UI

Worked on the aesthetics through mood boards and experimenting with different
styles

Create the graphics, edit video, create sound

Develop the game mechanics

Implement the game

Evaluate the game

Market the game through charities and schools.
Academic benefits

Learn to see things from different perspectives (domain of study)

Critical thinking

Social and entrepreneurial in student partnership (outward facing)

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Exposure to different ways of thinking and pedagogical forms and methods of
teaching including assessment

Link academic research to teaching (research led module)
Contact
Daphne Economou – [email protected]
Frands Pedersen – [email protected]