Resources for Serious Gaming:
Serious games are designed with the intention of improving some specific aspect of learning, and players come to serious games with that expectation. Serious games are used in emergency services training, in military training, in corporate education, in health care, and in many other sectors of society. They can also be found at every level of education, at all kinds of schools and universities around the world. Game genre, complexity, and platforms are as varied as those found in casual games. Play, an important contributor to human development, maturation, and learning, is a mandatory ingredient of serious games. – Anne Derryberry, I’m Serious.net
For more information/topics covered in the workshop, please visit: Not Your Mama’s Gamer
Articles
- Assessment in and of Serious Games: An Overview: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahci/2013/136864/
- “Gaming” Genre: Serious Games, Genre Theory, and Rhetorical Action: (Dissertation) http://search.proquest.com/docview/304581226
- The Ecology of Games http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/ecology-games/ Includes several articles from the following conributors:
- Ian Bogost, Anna Everett, James Paul Gee, Mizuko Ito, Barry Joseph, Laurie McCarthy, Jane McGonigal, Cory Ondrejka, Amit Pitaru, Tom Satwicz, Kurt Squire, Reed Stevens, S. Craig Watkins.
- Playing/Writing: Connecting Video Games, Learning, and Composition (Dissertation): http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=miami1281125116
- Videogame and Virtual World Technologies, Serious Games, applications in Education and Training: http://54.243.93.232/Documents/in/Videogame_and_Virtual_World_Technologies_Serious_Games_applications_in_Education_and_Training
Books (not free)
- The Art of Game Design http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=pd_sim_b_1
- Character Development and Storytelling for Games: http://www.amazon.com/Character-Development-Storytelling-Games-Series/dp/1592003532/ref=pd_sim_b_20
- Digital Game Based Learning: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Game-Based-Learning-Marc-Prensky/dp/1557788634/ref=pd_sim_b_10
- Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames http://www.amazon.com/Persuasive-Games-Expressive-Power-Videogames/dp/0262514885/ref=pd_sim_b_2
- Rules of Play http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Play-Game-Design-Fundamentals/dp/0262240459/ref=pd_sim_b_5
- Simulations & Serious Games: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Simulations-Serious-Games/dp/0470462736
- A Theory of Fun http://www.amazon.com/A-Theory-Fun-Game-Design/dp/1932111972/ref=pd_sim_b_10
- Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age: http://www.amazon.com/Video-Games-Learning-Participatory-Connections/dp/0807751987/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z
- What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. http://www.amazon.com/Video-Learning-Literacy-Second-Edition/dp/1403984530/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
Games
- Against All Odds http://www.playagainstallodds.com/ Experience life as a refugee. This game includes escaping, finding asylum, and making a new life. Players choose what the character does and find out what “consequences” the character faces because of those choices.
- Darfur is Dying http://www.darfurisdying.com/ About every day struggles in Darfur. Players have to get water for their families without getting captured (or worse) by the mujahedeen). Also comes with lots of links about how to help.
- FreeRice http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1380 Actually earn rice to feed the hungry through testing your vocabulary knowledge (or other knowledge categories) http://freerice.com/category.
- Game Maker Studio:http://store.steampowered.com/app/214850/
- The Garbage Dreams Game http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html Can you make a living and survice by reculcing trash? The Zaballeen people of Egypt do. You have eight “months” to make a profit.
- Kodu: http://fuse.microsoft.com/projects/kodu
- On the Groud Reproter: Darfur http://www.radiodabanga.org/darfurgame/english/index.html Using real footage and photographs mixed with animation, this game invites players to get the inside “truth” about living conditions in the war-torn region. Players can take “notes” for their report, but need to be careful not to reveal they are a reporter!
- Positive or Not http://posornot.com/ Can you tell who is HIV positive just by looking at her/him?
- SimCity EDU: http://www.simcityedu.org
- RPG Maker: http://www.rpgmakerweb.com
- Teach with Portals: http://www.teachwithportals.com
- Third World Farmer http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com/index.html Help keep an African farm functioning and profitable while facing challenges.
- Wasteland Adventure http://www.wastelandadventure.com/ Help Bobo choose the right place for trash and recycling.
- Windfall http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/files/windfall/play.html (After watching an ad) This game allows players to “create”, “buy”, and “sell” clean energy.
Websites
- FutureLabs Review: http://media.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/lit_reviews/Serious-Games_Review.pdf
- Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/topic/serious
- http://www.adobe.com/resources/elearning/pdfs/serious_games_wp.pdf
- Edutech Wiki http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Serious_game
- JISC: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/tele/gamingvirtual.aspx Formerly known as the Joint Information Systems Committee, JISC has funded a number of projects and produced a range of publications, studies and guides looking at serious (educational) gaming and virtual worlds
- Serious Game Association: http://www.seriousgamesassociation.com The Serious Games Association (SGA) in an international trade organization serving the entire serious games industry.
- Serious Game Development Tools: http://www.seriousgameuniversity.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=68
- Serious Game Directory: http://www.seriousgamesdirectory.com a new free resource for educators, developers, analysts, consultants, and providers. The international directory will allow users to submit links, screenshots, photos, and videos of their products and services and will be searchable by platform, developer, market, audience, and topic, among others. Academic institutions are invited to share information about courses and degrees related to serious games.
- Serious Game Initiative, Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/seriousgames/resources.html
- Serious Game Society: http://seriousgamessociety.org
- UNT Serious and Educational Gaming Guide: http://guides.library.unt.edu/content.php?pid=318935&sid=2624641
Video Clips
- James Gee on Video Games and Learning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfPdaKYOPI&feature=related
- Nesta: http://www.nesta.org.uk/assets/events/hot_topics_serious_games
- SGI Initiative: http://www.youtube.com/user/sginitiative
- TED Talk: Jane McGonical “Games Can Make A Better World” http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html