Types of Educational Games
An effective educational game design must achieve a balance between fun and educational value. Indeed, different designs found in the field seem to have an aim that is usually biased towards fun or educational content. Moreno-Ger, Burgos, Martinez-Ortiz, Sierra and Fernandez-Manjon (2008) present a number of initiatives that can be broadly categorized into three groups: (1) Multimedia approaches tightly linked to content presentation; (2) those that repurpose pre-existing games for education; (3) a middle category of specially designed games that seeks a balance between fun and educational content. The following subsections provide examples of some of these initiatives.
Moreno-Ger, Burgos, Martinez-Ortiz, Sierra and Fernandez-Manjon (2008)
Educational Games
Examples: Start with Art!. Vocabulary Spelling City. Prodigy Math
Also known as Edutainment, which focuses on translating the official educational content (usually in primary education, sometimes in high school) into a game-like environment.
The problem is when the entertainment aspects fail to shine in the design, most of the advantages of game-based learning in terms of motivation and engagement are lost and the learning experience suffers (Koster, 2004).
Repurposing Games
Examples: Minecraft. Sim City. Civilization
Repurposing existing games for education is another way of mixing education and entertainment.
Some initiatives are based on products that were originally designed as commercial games. Although these games were not developed with potential educational use in mind, sometimes their content and models are so rich and detailed that they can have educational value if handled properly. Two famous examples are SimCity and Civilization.
Specifically Designed Games
Examples: PBS Kids Games. Learn Japanese To Survive.
Specifically designed games are to reach a balance between fun and learning in a gameplay design model (Prensky, 2001). There have been many success stories of game designs that managed to teach almost pervasively while engaging external players to the point of playing the game even if they were not interested in the educational content.
A possible alternative to find a balance between the two extremes is the modification of existing commercial games to improve their educational value (Purushotma, 2005).