What does “Serious Games” mean?

Even though co-occurrence of the terms ‘serious’ and ‘game’ sounds odd, serious games aim to cover a significant issue in an immersive environment. When the players engage with this environment, they are not only exposed to the concepts of the issue, but also they live through the experience of managing that issue in a safe environment.

The topic of a serious game may vary from cancer to healthy eating habits, from urban planning to social movements, from ecology to ancient Rome history.

A serious game does not have to be designed for education; commercial games that are already available can also be used as a serious game. Naturally, if the game is designed specifically for education, its audience centered approach boosts the game’s learning potential.