Playtime can be serious business.
Across sectors such as healthcare, education, human resources and even the military, games — from board games to apps on our smartphones and computers — are being used to inform, educate and train people in specific skills.
They are called serious games because their purpose goes beyond pure entertainment.
Rather, these games are being used to help users adopt healthy lifestyle changes, develop social skills, be persuaded and recruited to various causes, and even for campaigning in politics.
By weaving together elements such as achievement, control, challenge, suspense, thrill, relief and empathy, games help players engage actively and learn, build problem-solving skills and think strategically.
Serious games have a long history. They were used in the 19th century to simulate battle conditions on a board game to help officers strategise better.
In more recent times, they've been used to teach players various aspects of fiscal policies.
They are helping children learn about diabetes, providing therapy for dementia patients, mobilising communities around environmental causes and training medical students for surgical procedures via a custom-made game controller.
Research suggests that these games are serious business, too — the market size for serious games is estimated at US$14.06 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach US$43.65 billion by 2029.
And game developers are catching up — using advanced game design and evaluation strategies to make games more user-centric and reach wider audiences.
Gaming elements or methods can be applied to non-game applications and processes too, resulting in what is known as gamification.
Interactive elements such as quizzes, puzzles and leaderboards are helping improve customer engagement and sales as part of marketing strategies, or in education to enhance learning outcomes.
Elements such as points, challenges, scoreboards, feedback and narrative are helping educators go beyond the chalk and talk method, and help students learn complex concepts.
The rise of e-learning practices, especially post-COVID-19, have only enhanced the role of gamification in increasing student engagement, with the key being choosing the right elements of gamification to suit the context.
Whether it is accounting, mathematics or the threat of climate change, learning complex concepts, it seems, is set to be a whole new ball game.
