7 Deadly sins of making serious / educational games

7 deadly sins of serious game design 7 Deadly sins of making serious educational games

I wanted to add a short post just highlighting 7 things that I repeatedly see people doing wrong when they are making or considering making serious / educational games. This is by no means an exhaustive list though – I just like the idea of 7 deadly sins 😀

  1. Assume because you think it is fun that everyone else will.
  2. Forget that it is actually a game.
  3. Forget that it is meant to teach something or provide a message.
  4. Test with the wrong people.
  5. Think that it doesn’t need to look good.
  6. Think that playing games will make you a good game designer.
  7. Underestimate how hard it is to make a good game.

In a little more detail.

Assume because you think it is fun that everyone else will.

  • Fun is really subjective and just because you think it is amazing doesn’t mean that the rest of us will! See sin 2…
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    Don’t be afraid to say no to Gamification

    No to gamification Don 8217 t be afraid to say no to Gamification

    Here is something that many who know me or know of me would be surprised to hear. Gamification is not always the answer!

    There, I said it.

    Often gamification is just a concept people have heard of and know may be of use. In these cases they will ask if it can be used as a solution for an issue they have. The trouble is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of just saying yes. As a gamifier, we really want to use gamification to solve business problems. We know the power that games and game elements can have and want to demonstrate this whenever we can. Read More ...