Educational Game Design Fundamentals: A Journey to Creating Intrinsically Motivating Learning Experiences

Can we learn through play? Can we really play while learning?

Of course! But how?!

We all learn and educate others in our own unique ways. Successful educational games adapt to the particular learning needs of their players and facilitate the learning objectives of their designers.

Educational Game Design Fundamentals embarks on a journey to explore the necessary aspects to create games that are both fun and help players learn. This book examines the art of educational game design through various perspectives and presents real examples that will help readers make more informed decisions when creating their own games. In this way, readers can have a better idea of how to prepare for and organize the design of their educational games, as well as evaluate their ideas through several prisms, such as feasibility or learning and intrinsic values.

Everybody can become education game designers, no matter what their technical, artistic or pedagogic backgrounds. This book refers to educators and designers of all sorts: from kindergarten to lifelong learning, from corporate training to museum curators and from tabletop or video game designers to theme park creators!

George Kalmpourtzis is an award-winning game designer and educator. Finding himself between the fields of education, game studies and user experience, he has been founder, director and board member of several European design studios. He has designed and produced numerous games for computers, consoles, virtual and augmented reality and he is constantly on a journey to discover new opportunities to play! George has been working as a consultant for corporations and non-government institutions around the world, identifying play as a key aspect of human expression and communication. George also holds bachelor's degrees both in education and engineering, a master's degree in information systems and a PhD in design pedagogy.