Understanding Learning Content Integration in Games

The question of integrating learning content into a serious game is a recurring one, although no clear theoretical framework has yet been provided. It is often argued that integration should occur at the core mechanic level, but this simple statement conceals the complexity of serious game design. The authors therefore propose a theoretical approach to learning content integration that analyzes integration in serious games along several dimensions. A multidimensional game model is proposed, which serves as the basis for a systematic method of analyzing the integration according to each component of the model. To evaluate the proposed analysis method, they present a series of game examples and patterns in which learning content is either fully or partially integrated into each component. They also provide a comprehensive analysis of two serious games.