The Played Seriousness Of Life: Stocktaking And Potentials Of Serious Games (For Health)

Abstract

Serious games are currently being discussed in connection with the positive potential of computer games in various contexts. This article outlines the development and the state of research of this relatively new concept and distinguishes it from other learning concepts such as edutainment, digital game-based learning and e-learning. The spectrum of serious games is presented using the example of two games from the health sector (Re-Mission and Fatworld) and the potentials and limitations of serious games (for health) are discussed. Since only a few empirical findings on the effect of serious games are available so far, the authors plead for comprehensive basic and impact research.