Serious Games 101: Introduction to games beyond entertainment
From Monopoly to Minecraft to Animal Crossing, the gaming industry is constantly evolving with new platforms and content. New technologies are providing users with a more immersive and entertaining gaming experience. The game industry is estimated to reach 3 billion gamers worldwide by 2023 with an average age of 35 years. Smartphones and consoles have made games more accessible than ever and while games are thought of to be played merely for fun, there are games that can reach a wider audience with a more “serious” purpose. This article aims to give an introduction to serious games by presenting examples and applications used in the global market.
Written by Kanghee Kim
kanghee.kim@looxidlabs.com
1. Where did the name come from?
Serious games are games developed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment, for example, to train or educate. The term was coined by Clark C. Abt in his book titled, Serious Games(1970) where he argued that games should be used for educational purposes. The rapid development of serious games started in the 2000s. America’s Army, which was developed by the U.S. Army to recruit soldiers, is often regarded as the first successful serious game. Later with the development of game consoles, such as Nintendo DS and Wii, serious games took on various forms.
The biggest difference between games classified as serious games and those that are not depends on whether the game objectives lie inside or outside the game. Serious games can be used to model real-life situations and find solutions to specific problems. Therefore, the game objectives, such as teaching the user math concepts or exercising the core, can be applied to our daily lives and bring about behavioral changes. On the other hand, the objectives of non-serious games are limited and can only be applied inside the game, for instance when the user wants to level up or earn game points.
2. Success stories in healthcare
Three examples of successful serious games are presented below to further illustrate how serious games benefit our daily lives.
Re-mission
Developed by a non-profit organization called Hopelab, Re-mission is targeted towards young patients with cancer and aims to inform the users about the process and importance of cancer treatment.
The gameplay reflects real-world procedures when treating cancer. Users use weapons like radiation guns and chemo-blasters to kill cancer cells inside the virtual patient’s body. The user constantly reports the patients’ status to the doctor and supervises the patient’s continuous treatment.
According to a study conducted by Hopelab to test the efficacy of the game, there was an increase in oral chemotherapy and antibiotic treatment adherence in groups that played Re-mission compared to the control group. In addition, the game increased cancer-related knowledge of participants and the users also felt more confident about overcoming their disease and a sense of responsibility for their treatment. 200,000 copies were distributed in 81 different countries and this example shows how serious games can be used as a tool to enhance patient treatment adherence and a source of encouragement during the treatment process.
Bravemind
Developed by the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, Bravemind is a virtual reality game for veterans who are currently suffering from Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). The game requires a certified clinician to guide the users through exposure therapy. Patients often have a hard time summoning their experiences during traditional exposure therapy where they are asked to recall their traumatic events and talk about them with a clinician. Virtual reality allows the users to experience the events rather than imagining them in their heads. Bravemind clinicians are able to gradually increase the treatment intensity until the brain’s response is reduced and users have control over their memory.
Clinicians can choose from 14 different maps that depict war countries such as Iraq or Afghanistan and add tanks and helicopters to recreate war zones. 3D audio, vibration, and smell of fuel and gunpowder further enhance the experience.
In a 2010 study, 16 out of 20 study participants showed no symptoms classified as PTSD after being exposed to Bravemind and the effects were maintained after a 3-month follow-up. In a more recent study, the effects were further maintained after a 6-month follow-up. Two copies were sold to the Canadian government for $17,000 each and are currently being used in over 50 university and veteran hospitals. Like this, serious games can substitute traditional treatment procedures and provide patients with more treatment options to choose from.
Sea Hero Quest
Sea Hero Quest was developed by Deutsche Telekom, Alzheimer’s Research UK, University College London, and the University of East Anglia to collect spatial navigation data for Alzheimer’s research. According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, the first signs of dementia are a decline in navigation skills. However, doctors do not know whether this is due to dementia or for other reasons. In order to set a global benchmark on how normal healthy people navigate, the developers created a mobile and VR game to collect user data.
In the game, players become sailors and memorize maps to navigate their way through the sea. Along with user demographics, the game looks at how players use landmarks and their sense of direction to navigate around different mazes.
Preliminary research conducted with user data showed that our spatial navigation abilities start to deteriorate at the age of 19, and people who are genetically vulnerable to Alzheimer’s(carriers of ApoE4 genes) are more likely to take less efficient routes. Other research showed the difference in navigation skills depending on gender and country.
According to researchers, two minutes of playing Sea Hero Quest gathers the same amount of data as a five-hour lab research session. Thus with over 3 million downloads worldwide, the researchers were able to collect 12,000 years’ worth of research data on dementia. As demonstrated by Sea Hero Quest, serious games in healthcare can be used to gather scientifically valid data that scientists can use for future research on finding treatments for diseases.
3. Industries that use serious games
The examples above are not a complete list of how serious games are used to benefit their users. New applications of serious games are constantly being developed and many industries are implementing serious games for various purposes. Five industries that are actively utilizing serious games are listed below.
Healthcare. Serious games allow remote diagnosis and treatment for the clinician and patient. The majority of serious games in this industry are developed with the help of healthcare professionals and thus have scientifically proven effects. Not only can it supplement other treatments, but serious games in healthcare can also be used as tools for clinicians to practice their surgical and diagnostic skills.
Education. When serious games are used in the education sector, students are provided with a more entertaining way of learning hard concepts. Combining math concepts with game points and game visuals makes studying more approachable for students.
Business. In terms of business settings, serious games are mostly used for leadership and collaboration enhancement workshops. Using games can save time and resources compared to holding in-person workshops. Employees can complete the task based on their own schedule and are not restricted to be at a certain location.
Military. When used for military purposes, serious games allow the users to practice multiple tactics in a safe environment and determine which one works best.
Environment. Serious games are often used in the environment sector to inform users about sustainability. Using games can change the users’ consumption behaviors and patterns to further protect the environment.
4. Using serious games as the primary medium
The purposes mentioned above can all be achieved by using tools other than games, for example, books. However, there are multiple reasons why these industries chose to use games as their primary medium to achieve their goal.
Goal-oriented. Games can naturally encourage goal-oriented action to motivate the user into completing the game and reaching the goal intended by the game developer. This can be hard to achieve when information is just given to the user on a piece of paper.
Safe Environment. Users can also experiment with their actions in a safe environment before applying them to the real world.
Self-esteem. The more the user plays the game, the better they get which can enhance the user’s overall self-esteem.
Instant Feedback. Games also give instant feedback allowing users to learn and reflect on what they did wrong when they lose.
Data Collection. Games also allow for vast amounts of data collection which can not only benefit the game developers in enhancing gameplay but can also be used for research.
5. The growing global market of serious games
Because of these advantages and a wide range of applications, the serious games market is constantly increasing. The serious games global market revenue is expected to reach 24 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. When we look at demographics, the highest revenue came from the Asia Pacific region in 2016 and it was the fastest growing market in 2019. Serious games for simulation training and advertisement purposes are expected to increase the most and utilization in the education, retail, media, and healthcare sectors are expected to grow by 2023.
Closing
The development of digital devices and diverse content has allowed games to expand their applications to reach a wider audience. More game companies are focusing on developing serious games for their clients and more industries are incorporating serious games into their services. By integrating meaningful purposes, games have the potential to be informative and entertaining at the same time.
Looxid Labs has incorporated serious games into LUCY, a care solution that provides early diagnosis and treatment for dementia. The next article will discuss how Looxid Labs incorporates serious games with virtual reality and biomarkers to enhance its product, what distinguishes LUCY from other serious games, and the direction Looxid Labs is taking to further strengthen the distinction.
References
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