How to produce real educational games

An educational game has all the characteristics of a game. The ingredients common to all games are relatively simple and limited in number. A game must have these ingredients to be called a game; the pedagogical dimension follows.

• Winning - losing
  
  In a game, you must first be able to win or lose, succeed or fail. If you can never win or lose, it may be a toy or an activity, but it's not a game. Even "games without losers" still offer the possibility of success or failure in achieving a goal.
  
  
• Goals
  
  Challenges and objectives can be translated into goals, performance levels, possessions; they are essential ingredients. They are recorded in the form of records, charts, rankings or simply satisfaction. Comparing one's score with others or with oneself (progression) is often a powerful driving force. More points, faster, further, harder... better!
  
  
• Unpredictability
  
  At the heart of games are rules (constraints, barriers) and freedoms, which allow a degree of unpredictability within a certain framework (the field, the playing area). Unpredictability ties in with the first condition of the game (the possibility of winning or losing) and allows the player's qualities to express themselves. An opponent is a great source of unpredictability.
  
  The player tries to reduce unpredictability in the direction of victory and success. When control is total or non-existent, the game disappears. Playing against a lousy opponent or one who is too superior is of little interest.
  
  Playing against a machine represents a renewed challenge, since the machine won't always do the same thing. Playing against or with unpredictable elements (wind, illogicalities, chance) is possible as long as you find a certain amount of the next factor: control.
  
  
• Control
  
  A game leaves one or more things to be controlled or decided, things that contribute to the achievement of objectives. Without control, there may be emotions (e.g. roller coasters), but it won't be a game; controlling your emotions won't make you get there any faster. Even games of chance need to include elements of control and decision-making to arouse interest.
  
  
• Interest
  
  Finally, games consume interest; their appeal varies over time. Yet the only quality that changes in the eyes of the player is their subjective interest. So, depending on the evolving characteristics of the players, we'll modify the rules, the objectives and the elements to be controlled to keep the game interesting. For example, the principle of progression in difficulty, or the "handicap" rules for opponents of different value, are designed to keep the game interesting.

And the pedagogy?

With these five elements in hand, any teacher can create interesting educational games. There are games with no time limit (most games are turn-based), others whose rules change as the game progresses or as the players decide, and yet they are all games.

The flaw most often observed in educational games is their lack of unpredictability. When everything is planned, you'll go on a journey, a quest, which may seem fun, but it's not a game, unless you add elements of unpredictability, such as opponents or chance.

But action doesn't make a game. Clicking on the right answer isn't enough unless elements such as speed, accuracy or a value judgement come into play in pursuit of an objective.

But even with all this, few games manage to demonstrate both educational value AND sustain interest. So what makes an educational game?

Educational games: motivating development

Genuine educational games encourage the development of skills and knowledge to meet challenges and objectives, but they don't make the development of skills and knowledge the object of the game itself. They use them.

For example, stock market simulations with real stock market odds are real games, with rankings and returns. Those who win are usually the best organized, gather real information and develop their skills without this being the object of the game. The object of the game is to make money. The same applies to a game like SimAgri, where the aim is to develop a farming business.

An educational game differs from a pure game in that the elements that enable the game's objectives to be achieved are the educational elements that we want the player to acquire and that are essential to the game, without being its driving objectives or challenge. Knowledge and skills can help you win, but they are not the fundamental characteristics of games. They are the pedagogical features.

Another example: an English exercise asks you to answer all kinds of questions, the right answers earn you points, and the faster you go, the more points you get; you see the average score of other students on the same question. You try to improve constantly by learning new vocabulary and expressions, but the aim of the game is to score as many points as possible. And the qualities developed are speed and fluency.

This is where the teacher's art lies: creating the problem to be solved, the objective to be reached, with the skills and knowledge transmitted in the course. Send the satellite into orbit, find the right antibody, manage the cleaning team, build the bridge, convince as many customers as possible... and improve, without getting bored.