When I first started soliciting input on developing my idea for a learning game, a long list of LMS platforms was suggested. That is, Learning Management Systems. The most popular ones facilitate legitimate academic degrees for millions of students every year. In fact, I am currently earning my Master’s in Public Policy and Administration on Canvas at this very moment. I’m not trying to minimize the usefulness of these systems, but I have to be honest. My response when the LMS was mentioned was… “ew, please no.”
Are LMS frameworks anything more than a knowledge base with an outline? Sometimes “feature-packed” with quizzes, flip-boxes, or vignettes… But if it's not a wall of text, it is a sea of videos. Sometimes it is a balance of both, but the mixed methods hardly help with the tedium of training. A quick poll would likely show a majority of workers would rather don their body weight in armor, whittle their own clubbing stick, and fight a dragon off the front porch of their house before they do another training.
Well, you could do almost that.
Do you ever picture your boss as a fire-breathing monster, recklessly inching closer and closer to your homestead, threatening your domain, your cat, and your literal sanity? Imagine there is a way to develop the skills to conquer your IRL bully in the safety of a simulation. That is where “serious games” come into play.
If you have never come across the term “serious game” before, you are likely questioning the definition and criteria. Essentially, the term encompasses any play that is used for a purpose other than “fun”. It is an interesting concept, for sure, because, like in fantasy worlds, the applications for serious games are only limited by imagination.
Let’s go back to your boss for a second. Surely you can’t just tell them to back off… otherwise that probably would have happened by now. Or maybe you did, and it didn’t work. Or conceivably, you might be a lucky few who appreciate their leader’s direction. But I’m willing to bet there is somebody breathing hot air down your neck. So, what could a game do about it?
Say you’re onboarding new team leaders. You could give them a 50-slide PowerPoint on conflict resolution… or you could drop them into a branching simulation where they need to navigate tough conversations with a virtual co-worker, “Disengaged Dan.” Throw in a timed decision, some dialogue options, maybe a tiny bit of workplace drama, and suddenly, learning has buy-in. They’re learning by doing.
Okay, we might have villainized bosses a little bit, but come on. It wasn’t that tall a tale for most adults with a reasonable work history on their resume. But a boss fight doesn’t have to mean a literal ogre with a clipboard (but now I want to see that). It represents a culminating challenge. It is a final test of everything learned, a chance to excel when the pressure is highest. Almost like… a final exam.