Two steps closer to serious games
Serious games are powerful tools for learning and change. With a solid preliminary phase and a card game, you bring serious gaming two steps closer — and make it smaller.
My goal is to bring serious gaming two steps closer to the client. Serious games are excellent tools for learning and change programmes, and every programme has a game hidden inside it (find the game).
In fifteen years of conversations with clients, I kept hearing the same doubts. Here are the most common ones — and why they need not hold you back.
Doubt, customisation and intensity
Doubt. Most clients view serious gaming positively but experience it as an all-or-nothing decision. The most common answer is that the timing isn’t optimal right now. The key point: it isn’t a yes-or-no choice. Serious gaming can be done in phases, where preliminary research gives far more insight into the chances of success.
Customisation. Many serious games are made to measure. Because usually only one game gets developed, there’s no shared experience in collaborating yet. For both client and game builder it takes some searching for the right form, and it’s hard to predict costs and returns exactly in advance.
Intensity. Serious game projects can be intensive and require continuous steering and feedback. If that feedback is missing, disruption follows: more hours, multiple revisions, and the risk of over-engineering — a game that’s too expensive and too elaborate for its purpose. A good preliminary phase reduces that risk.
The solution lies in the business case
A common question concerns the outcome: what does the investment yield? It’s great if the target group learns something or has fun, but the justification of the investment often stays unclear.
The client should therefore work out a business case up front: costs and benefits weighed against each other, and — more importantly — the desired outcome and how we measure it. This happens before the game builder is engaged. My GameStorm is an excellent technique to make that business case visible.
Step 1 — a solid preliminary phase
I take work off the client’s hands in carrying out a good preliminary phase: analysis, research and ultimately the game design. It starts with a (free) brainstorm in which we quickly get a grip on the possibilities.
The result is twofold: a business case that gives deeper insight into costs, workload and expected outcome, and a blueprint (the game design) that lets the game builder quickly make a clear proposal.
Step 2 — a card game
The second step is developing a serious card game. A card game fits most target groups seamlessly and is easy — and therefore cheap — to produce. Sometimes the card game already suffices for the stated goals and you deploy it in workshops, on open days or as a corporate gift.
In other cases it’s the perfect preparation for a larger programme: an excellent way to test goals, mechanisms and outcomes before the relatively expensive production starts. That way you can adjust in time.
The paradox
I’m aware of a paradox: the project scales from two to three parties, and you incur costs before you gain certainty about the total. My answer lies in two counter-questions: Would you have a house built without first working with an architect? And more concretely: Are you willing to invest 10 euros to save 100?
Perhaps a good moment to get in touch. We can also start right away with a (free) brainstorm. Get in touch and I’ll explore what’s possible for your case.