Designing Serious Games [Hardcover]

A comprehensive guide to the design and development process of games for impact.

Serious games—or games for impact—encompass everything from educational, therapeutic, and rehabilitative games to games for social, scientific, and cultural impact. While the field is flourishing, the practice of actually designing such games is not readily understood. Filling this gap, Designing Serious Games provides a comprehensive guide to the design and development process of this unique interdisciplinary field. The book guides readers through a user-centric design process that includes methods to define the game’s goal, understand its target audience, design accordingly, and evaluate outcomes. Featuring diverse case studies, actionable advice, and incisive interviews with transformational game practitioners and industry leaders, this practical book is an essential resource for anyone interested in designing serious games.

• Provides game design instruction tailored to the needs of serious games
• Offers step-by-step activities and guidance on concept design, preproduction, production, and postproduction
• Highlights industry perspective through interviews sharing real-life insights of development practice
• Includes extensive exercises and case studies
• Suits both students and professionals

Part I
1 Serious Games: An Introduction
2 Designing and Developing Serious Games
3 What Is Impact?
4 The Business of Serious Games
Part II
5 Understanding Users
6 Defining the Target Audience
Part III
7 Concept Design
8 Pre-Production
9 Production and Polish
Part IV
10 Game Useability through Heuristics
11 User Studies
12 Evaluating Playability andlsŒ