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There are over 3.3 billion gamers today, all playing for different reasons.
Video games have a unique way of engaging people and tapping into their emotions. While some play for entertainment, others play for work, education, and social impact! Many businesses and NGOs invest in the video game industry because they see the medium's potential.
This is where serious games and games for change came in. These games go beyond entertainment and are used in a variety of industries. Serious games use game technology and design principles to craft life-changing experiences. They can tap into human psychology to influence the masses to take action against global warming. They can even collect data that is used to make scientific breakthroughs!
Serious game developers like ourselves use this technology to create change. But how exactly is this possible, and what do we mean specifically when we say “serious game”?
What are serious games?
A serious game serves a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. Clark C. Abt coined this term in the 1970s and wrote several pieces on how games could be used beyond arcades.
Serious games have a job embedded within their mechanics, narrative, and design—they may be designed to educate, inspire, or motivate action.
These are games built for a purpose—to teach a skill, motivate certain behaviours, or conduct research. The goal is to create a change within the player that continues long after the player stops interacting with the game.
Despite the widespread use of the term, I’ve always considered ‘serious games’ to be a terrible name for what are essential, transformative experiences. I prefer the term Transformational Games because I believe it better represents our industry. Transformational games focus on facilitating real-world change through the player’s actions.
This term stems from the Transformational Framework by Sabrina Culyba and Schell Games. A transformational game is an interactive system that uses human psychology to influence players and create real-world change.
Despite my preference, I will use the term ’serious games' for this guide as it’s more widely used.
Serious Games vs. Entertainment Games
Entertainment games are built to amuse us. They are marketed and sold based on brand recognition, graphical fidelity, and novel gameplay experiences. They are both toys and works of art designed to be fun!
Serious games aim to make a lasting impact on the players or the world around us. They are built with a purpose: to teach the player tangible skills, change their behaviour, or even conduct research. Serious games are entertaining but use fun to achieve outcomes outside of amusement.
The evolution of technology and the gamification of daily tasks have contributed to the rise of serious games.
Serious Games vs. Gamification
Gamification is a term often grouped with serious games, and it’s essential to understand the differences between both approaches. Gamification is the application of game elements into a non-game environment.
While both gamification and serious games fuel player motivation, their structure is the main difference. Gamification integrates game-like mechanics (such as leader boards, badges and quests) into non-game environments, whilst serious games are structured as full-scale games that emphasise completing a goal.
It’s important to note that serious games and gamification are two concepts that aren’t interchangeable. Want to know more about the difference? Read my blog here!
Why do we use serious games?
In 1938, Dutch historian Johan Huizinga described the human being as intrinsically playful and ‘play’ as a serious and fundamental aspect of social interaction and cultural development. Early serious game pioneers saw the potential of video games and sought to use gaming's positive effects to simulate real life. Designers realised that games could bridge the gap between players and their goals.
Simply put, we use serious games because they are practical tools! Here are the main reasons why we use serious games today:
Prolonged Retention
Serious games have increased knowledge retention rates compared to conventional learning methods. They engage learners on multiple emotional, cognitive, and kinesthetic levels. By immersing learners in a digital environment, serious games can make complex concepts easier to understand and remember over time.
Measurable Outcomes
Determining and measuring the impact of traditional training might be difficult. But with serious games, all the metrics are available! Analytics can be used to dive deep into users' minds to determine knowledge retention and engagement levels. The data captured can be further used to fine-tune and optimise the game.
Clear Objectives
These objectives structure the gameplay, helping players track their progress and reinforcing knowledge retention. Serious games maintain player motivation and engagement by breaking down complex challenges into smaller, achievable goals. For example, productivity apps such as Habitica help players track healthy habits in a gamified manner.
Customisation
Serious games can be customised to meet the needs of different populations, which can help ensure that they are engaging and effective for their intended audience. For example, a game that promotes healthy eating habits could be tailored to different age groups, cultures, or health conditions.
Cost-Effective
Serious games can be a cost-effective solution to many real-world problems. For example, PIXO VR helps construction companies increase safety while reducing the need for expensive real-world training. Similarly, serious games can provide health education or therapy at a lower cost than traditional methods.
Motivation
Serious games can motivate learners, offering a sense of achievement, progression, and mastery. This motivation can help learners stay engaged with the content and achieve their learning goals.
Practical Application
Serious games encourage participants to apply theoretical knowledge in real-life scenarios, enhancing decision-making and problem-solving skills. They are versatile and benefit various sectors, such as the military, government, education, corporate, and healthcare.
Widespread Platforms
Serious games can be played from a myriad of devices. About 67% of Americans, or roughly 211 million people, play video games on at least one type of device, with more than half playing on multiple platforms. The device plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of the serious game, and each platform has advantages and disadvantages.
Instant Feedback
Feedback loops are used in games to ensure the player follows the intended outcome. This helps players immediately see where they are going wrong. Just as important, they can be used to encourage good habits, turning progress itself into a reward. In other words, feedback loops change human behaviour.
Safe Environment
Serious games offer a secure environment for players to experiment and learn at their own pace. Participants feel a sense of autonomy as they can train, practise skills and make discoveries within a controlled environment.
How do we at Chaos Theory Games make Serious Games?
Whether it’s entertainment, education, or marketing games, game design is a discipline with theories, processes, and standards.
The framework we commonly use consists of eight critical topics. Sabrina Culyba and Schell Games created this framework as part of their “Guide to Making Transformational Games”. Each part of the framework connects back to common challenges faced by serious game developers:
- High-level Purpose: The big-picture goal.
- Audience & Context: Looking at more than just the traditional target audience demographics and learning as much as possible about the people playing (or facilitating) the game and the environment they will be doing this in.
- Player Transformation: How do you want your players to change?
- Barriers: Anything that may stand in the way of players achieving the transformation outlined in the previous step.
- Domain Concepts: The entire body of knowledge surrounding your game, whether included in the game or not, is assumed prior knowledge or intentionally excluded.
- Expert Resources: Any external resources, books, or professionals that may prove helpful in the development process.
- Prior Works: Case studies and live projects with the same High-level Purpose as your game.
- Assessment Plan: What is your plan for evaluation? How will you know if you have been successful?
Depending on the project, we may change our approach to better suit the game's or our clients' needs. Some other frameworks that we like to use when designing unique experiences for different audiences include:
Game-based Learning Design Framework
This framework is designed to help game designers create practical game-based learning experiences. It emphasises the importance of aligning game mechanics with learning objectives and providing players with opportunities to practice and apply new skills and knowledge.
Design, Play, Experience Framework
The DPE framework helps game designers understand how their design choices affect the player's experience and how players' interactions can shape their overall enjoyment and learning from the game. It emphasises the dynamic relationship between game design, player actions, and the resulting experience. This framework was created to address the gap between previous design knowledge only considering entertainment games, including knowledge and experiences for serious and educational games.
"FLOW" framework
This emphasises the importance of creating a state of "flow" in players, who are fully immersed in the game and feel a sense of control and mastery. The "FLOW" framework emphasises the importance of creating challenges that are appropriately matched to players' abilities, providing clear feedback on progress, and creating a sense of engagement and enjoyment in the game.
We’ve written a detailed and FREE guide on making games using the transformational framework and what we have learned from over a decade of serious game development. You can download and read it here!
Where do we use serious games?
In recent years, serious game developers have used games to modify everyday activities and business practices to increase engagement and productivity. A study by Traci Sitzmann from the University of Colorado Denver found that gamification increased skill-based knowledge by 14% and fact-based expertise by 11%. We are constantly discovering new applications for serious games.
Under the serious games umbrella, many games and game-like activities offer advantages in various fields. The following breakdowns may be useful if you are curious about the different types of serious games.
Serious games can be categorised by their function and structure. They fall into one of two types: outcome-based games or process-oriented games.
Which Industries Use Serious Games
Another way to classify serious games is by industry and function. Ben Sawyer, the president of Digital Mill, worked on an overview of this classification to demonstrate the vast use cases of serious games.
Serious games are used in various industries today, providing practical and engaging ways to teach, train, and promote social impact. From education to healthcare to military training, serious games are helping players achieve goals and positively impact the world. Here are some examples of industries that use serious games today:
Education
Today, educational games are more widespread than ever, and 74% of teachers implement digital game-based learning in their lessons. From kindergarten to university students, serious games are an effective teaching medium. Check out our previous blog for examples of tools that are helping gamify the classroom!
Healthcare
Digital games have revolutionised the health industry. Medical simulation offers a cost-effective and risk-free alternative to traditional medical procedure training. Games are also used as a clinical therapy tool to aid in rehabilitation. In the healthcare industry, serious games are used in many nuanced ways to help with patient care and recovery. You can read our blog on the topic, which lists successful healthcare games!
Fitness and Well-being
Fitness games are a popular genre on today’s consoles. Console peripherals like the Nintendo Switch controller and PlayStation sensors track the player’s progress. The PlayStation VR2 has excellent hand and body tracking controls, which makes for stimulating exercise games such as OhShape Ultimate or the popular Beat Saber. An example of this on the Switch would be Ring Fit Adventure, an easy way for busy households to exercise in a more engaging format.
Aeronautics & Space Exploration
Simulation is used in the Aerospace industry to train future pilots in virtual environments, develop flight systems, test products, and assess mission feasibility. The Australian Space Agency is using VR to help train astronauts in various space simulations, such as Mars orbits or walking through the International Space Station.
Government
In government, games and gaming methods have been gaining steam to boost citizen engagement. For example, games like The Fiscal Ship are simple and fun games where players can ‘steer’ the country out of debt while maintaining their values. Additionally, serious games can teach individuals about different political systems policies and promote civic engagement, such as iCivics or Build the Vote.
Not-for-Profit Organisations
NGO games have become popular in recent years as organisations are looking for new ways to capture the attention of the masses. They aim to raise awareness and encourage change in global humanitarian, cultural, and environmental problems affecting our society. We’ve written a blog on 13 of the most successful Not-for-profit games that are helping make an impact.
Corporate Training
Serious games provide a cost-effective and engaging way to train employees in various skills, from sales and customer service to safety and compliance. For example, The Arc Institute was created to help employees learn how to negotiate better, communicate proposals effectively and other essential skills in a corporate workspace.
Social Impact
Serious games are being used to promote social impact and address real-world problems, such as climate change, poverty, and inequality. They can raise awareness and encourage action, allowing individuals and organisations to impact the world positively. Our award-winning game Crab God has a social impact feature in the form of eco-rewards completed by the player community, which are then translated into real-world ocean conservation impact goals.
What is the future of serious games?
The future of serious games is bright, with new technology and innovations driving the development of new applications and opportunities. Here are some of the key trends and developments that are shaping the future of serious games:
Immersive Technology
One of the most exciting trends in serious games is the development of immersive technology, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). These technologies allow serious games to deliver new experiences that mimic or integrate with the real world, allowing learners to understand complex concepts and skills better. For example, a reasonably recent VR game titled Baba Yaga by Baobab Studios challenges the player’s ethics and values as the protagonist to decide whether or not humanity and nature can live in harmony. The game went on to win a Games for Change Award in 2021.
Personalised Learning
Another trend in serious games is the development of personalised learning, using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. These technologies can adapt the game to the individual learner, providing tailored feedback and learning experiences that match the learner's preferences and learning style. The global AI adoption rate is at 35% and continues to climb, but there is still a lot to learn about this technology before we adopt it entirely into the workflow.
Streaming
Game streaming is when players broadcast their gameplay live over the internet for others to watch. It typically happens on platforms like Twitch or YouTube. Viewers can watch the player’s screen, hear their commentary, and interact with them through chat in real-time. Game on Cancer is one of the more prominent players in this space. They run year-round streaming events that raise money for cancer research. They have currently raised almost $100 million since conception.
Streaming can help increase the visibility, engagement, accessibility, and approachability of serious games. Streamers also encourage community-building and could be an excellent tool for raising money and awareness for the crucial topics these games revolve around.
Serious Game Examples in 2024
There are two main categories of Serious games—Entertainment-First and Purpose Built. To better highlight the difference between these, here’s a list of 12 projects that encapsulate each category:
Entertainment-First Serious Games
These games are commercial products designed to be sold to gaming audiences but also have an impact-focused component.
Crab God by Chaos Theory Games
Become the Guardian of the Abyss and lead the Great Migration to bring forth the next Crab God. Use your growing knowledge and great power to command your loveable Crablings to restore your ocean domain and protect your successor’s egg as you venture into the watery depths.
Working with dots.eco, your in-game progression will help contribute to actual ocean conservation efforts. As you cultivate the great reefs of the Crab God, you are also helping protect our beautiful planet that inspired games like ours.
Endling: Extinction is Forever by Herobeat Studios
In this game, players take on the role of the last fox trying to protect her cubs in a dystopian world where humans have driven many species to extinction. It's a story-driven adventure game that focuses on themes of extinction, environmentalism, and survival.
You navigate through various challenges, making choices that impact the survival of the protagonist's family and exploring the consequences of human actions on nature. In 2023, Endling also won a BAFTA award for games beyond entertainment.
Terra Nil by Devolver Digital
It's a unique game that aims to transform a barren, lifeless environment into a thriving ecosystem. Instead of building cities, you restore nature, planting trees, cleaning rivers, and bringing back wildlife.
The visuals are beautiful, and it's relaxing yet satisfying to see the world come back to life through your efforts. Plus, it makes you think about our environmental impact and how we can change positively. It's a refreshing twist on the usual city-building games and rewarding to play.
Papers Please by Lucas Pope
Set in the fictional country of Arstotzka, players take on the role of an immigration officer stationed at a border checkpoint. The main task is to inspect documents like passports, entry permits, and visas of people trying to cross the border.
The game challenges players to balance efficiency, accuracy, and moral decisions. The gameplay touches on broader themes of bureaucracy, ethics, and survival in a totalitarian regime, leading to multiple possible endings based on player choices.
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience by Delve Interactive
This game puts players in the shoes of a homeless person struggling to survive in a modern city. The gameplay involves scavenging for supplies, interacting with NPCs, making difficult decisions, and coping with daily challenges like hunger, weather, and police encounters.
The game explores themes of poverty, mental health, and the systemic struggles homeless individuals face. Its emotional and thought-provoking narrative encourages players to empathise with those affected by homelessness.
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist by Northway Games
This award-winning game is about making choices that shape your character's skills, relationships, and future. Every decision has consequences, and there are multiple story paths and endings based on your actions.
The world-building is incredible, with beautiful art and a rich narrative that draws you in. You’ll explore a new world, meet exciting characters, and face challenges that test your survival and social skills. It’s like a mix of a life simulator, RPG, and visual novel all rolled into one.
Purpose Built Serious Games
These games primarily designed to solve a real-world problem rather than being sold as entertainment products.
Energy Transformers by UNSW and Chaos Theory Games
This immersive and educational mobile game is tailor-made for Australian school students in Years 5-7. In this quiz-style game, students can implement solar panels, electrify public transport, or advise policymakers on sustainable initiatives.
The gameplay mechanics are entertaining, and at the end of the game students are encouraged to contact real-life MPs in Australia to make environmental policy changes.
Headlines and High Water by Field Day
In this game geared towards school students, you visit a small town that a catastrophic flood has suddenly ravaged. As a young journalist, it is your job to keep the townsfolk now informed about everything that is happening while staying safe.
Players will learn to gather evidence and report on different stories by covering topics uniquely. The choices you make in the game matter, as how well you report on the flood and its aftermath will directly determine whether or not the town will stand a year in the future!
Kit by Commbank by Commbank & Chaos Theory Games
Kit is a CommBank-built pocket money app that teaches kids to earn and learn, mindfully spend, and master money. The app features a prepaid card and lets kids Earn, Stack, Spend, and, most importantly, Learn!
Kit approached Chaos Theory Games to help co-create the first iteration of their gamified learning platform, 'Moneyverse.' This platform included quizzes and minigames to enhance learning retention and promote real-world behaviours.
Torn Away by perelesoq
This narrative-driven adventure game tells the story of a young girl named Asya during World War II. Asya is separated from her family and must navigate the harsh realities of war as she journeys across a war-torn landscape to find safety and reunite with her loved ones.
The game combines emotional storytelling with puzzle-solving and stealth mechanics, immersing players in the experiences and struggles of a child caught in the chaos of war. Through its poignant narrative and atmospheric visuals, "Torn Away" aims to highlight the human side of war and the resilience of those affected by it.
Working with Water by Chaos Theory Games
As part of The Central Coast of NSW council’s Love Water campaign, we were tasked with developing a game to simulate water management challenges for the area's growing population.
Working with Water is a turn-based strategy web game that teaches students about developing and maintaining a sustainable water supply system. The Games for Change organisation recently highlighted the game as part of its Earth Month 2024 campaign.
We the refugees by Act Zero
This adventure game immerses players in the harrowing journey of refugees seeking asylum in Europe. Players experience the challenges and decisions refugees face, navigate dangerous routes, make life-altering choices, and interact with a diverse cast of characters.
The game aims to illuminate the refugee crisis, emphasising the human stories behind the headlines and fostering empathy and understanding through its powerful storytelling.
Maya: The birth of a superhero by Just Another Production Company
This gorgeous film combines animation and immersion into one fantastic experience for everyone. Poulomi Basu and CJ Clarke's "Maya: The Birth of a Superhero" is an immersive installation and VR experience. It follows the journey of Maya, an ordinary 21st-century girl who transforms into a superhero with powers derived from menstruation.
Basu’s impactful art project ‘Blood Speaks,’ which addresses menstrual exile and violence against women in South Asia, inspired this odyssey of womanhood. The experience combines powerful storytelling with cutting-edge technology to explore themes of empowerment and resilience.
Sibel’s Journey by Food for Thought
"Sibel's Journey" is a mobile game designed to help young adolescents explore and learn about sexuality and gender safely and interactively. The game follows 13-year-old Sibel during an exciting weekend in Berlin, where she meets diverse people and discovers different ways of living and loving, including the secret of her best friend, Sarah.
Through its engaging gameplay, the game provides knowledge on topics such as anatomy, body image, communication, contraception, gender identity, and healthy relationships, all while fostering a positive and inclusive attitude.
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