Serious Games in Education: Exploring the Power of Play-Based Learning

Curated by: Siri Gauthier, eCampusOntario

How can game-based learning offer a more immersive education experience?

Emerging as a novel form of teaching, gamification taps into the part of our brains that loves achievement, feedback, and progression.

Gamification refers to the use of game-like elements such as points, badges, levels, and leaderboards in non-game contexts to make learning feel more like fun rather than a chore. It helps combat student disengagement, especially in online or hybrid formats. Here’s how it can help your teaching practice:

Increased Engagement: Game mechanics transform passive learning into active participation, which is crucial in lecture-heavy environments.

Improved Knowledge Retention: Interactive tasks and feedback loops reinforce learning and help students remember concepts longer.

Enhanced Collaboration: Multiplayer challenges and team quests foster peer interaction and social learning.

Real-World Skill Development: Simulations and role-playing games help students practice decision-making, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

Data-Driven Insights: Educators can track performance and adjust instruction based on analytics from gamified platforms.

Whether you’re looking to understand the theory of game-based learning, upgrade your programs and courses, or embed simulations into real-life skills training this curated collection of bilingual open educational resources (OER) offers something for every educator and instructional designer.

Read on to explore 7 of our Favourite Gamified OER in the Open Library.

Have you adopted an OER that made an impact in your teaching practice? Please share it with us on our Adoption Report which helps us track the impact of OER. Find more gamified OER on the Open Library.

7 Gamified OER in the Open Library

Dobble Debate : A Game Promoting Discussion of Difference and Disabilities (v.1.1 – March 2023) ↗

Dobble Debate facilitates creative and respectful discussions about disability. This serious game is designed to help learners consider their own perspectives on disability. We have developed the game in HTML5, CSS and Javascript—classic Web technologies widely used in accessible design—to ensure immediate and ongoing ease of use and availability. This digital version of Dobble Debate was conceived, co-designed and co-created in partnership with a variety of disabled community members.

Serious Game to Teach Data Literacy and Visualization ↗

The Data Literacy Game is an experiential-learning game to teach data literacy and visualization. The purpose of the game is to provide students with an interactive experience to practice the skills of understanding data, making sense of data based problems, interpreting visualizations, presenting data and building persuasive data driven stories.

Reset 2047: A Narrative Game to Learn About Video Game Law ↗

Reset 2047 is a narrative game that offers players the opportunity to learn about video game law. It is based on the DRC4731 – Video Game Law course taught at the University of Ottawa’s Civil Law Section. The video game industry, which emerged in the 1980s, has experienced exceptional growth over the past 30 years. In 2018, this sector generated a total of $119.6 billion, more than the film industry. North America is one of the most dynamic regions in terms of video game creation and consumption. As this sector has grown, many legal issues have emerged, and it is now a field of law in which the involvement of lawyers is essential. (Please note, this OER is only available in French.)

myWATERSHED : A Sandbox Game for Connecting and Accelerating Sustainability Stewards of the Future ↗

To train and empower youth to take on the challenge of ecological restoration and reconnect with nature, the myWATERSHED sandbox game ~~will create~~creates a digital twin of the Great Lakes that allows learners to engage in restoration using a simulated endangered species restoration effort. The myWATERSHED game offers users a unique opportunity to take ownership of restoration solutions through real-world data and take this knowledge further by challenging them to make management decisions in a highly realistic simulated environment.

Virtual simulation games in paramedical care ↗

This series of educational activities includes eight virtual simulation games, available in French and English, for the paramedical care program. These games, which present increasing levels of difficulty, support the development and consolidation of critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making in students. Placed at the center of the learning process in a formative setting, students will be able to assess their progress and learning in an engaging and interactive environment. (Please note this OER is only available in French.)

Canadian Cap and Trade Simulation ↗

This serious game is a simulation of a carbon trading system in a Canadian jurisdictional context. Learners take on the role of either the regulator, responsible for configuring the market and oversight, or a regulated emitter that needs to comply with the regulations. As a result of playing the game, successful learners will be able to: 1. Explain how cap-and-trade works as a policy mechanism to achieve emissions reductions–2. Appreciate the roles and strategies that can be adopted by the various stakeholders in a cap-and-trade system.

Essential Primary Health Care Skills : Virtual Simulation Games for Nurse Practitioner Education ↗

The Essential Primary Care virtual simulation games for nurse practitioner education. This resources focuses on key learning outcomes including: (1) applying NP advanced practice competencies as it applies to the primary care context; (2) support NP decision making related to key health conditions within practice; (3) identify and implement evidence-informed plans of care to improve patient outcomes; and (4) promote optimal functioning in the advanced practice nursing role. The Virtual Simulation Games include: Concussion management, Medical Assistance in Dying, Memory concern in the elderly, Medical cannabis. These topics are available in English and French and include a facilitators guide for debriefing the simulations.

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