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Part 1: DEFINING [SERIOUS] GAMES:

Stenros stated, “A game implies someone who enacts the game, performers usually called players, but also decision-makers, participants, contenders, people, as well as adversaries and teammates” (Stenros p.507). Games are defined as work that involves individuals or teams and has some specific rules. The game should be interactive that is governed by certain rules in which players are evaluated, and it runs on computers, mobile phones, or TV.  The game depends largely on the use of the mind and on the intelligence of the person and the ability to make decisions like in chess. These games fall between ease and difficulty, which depend heavily on graphics, which leads to a lot of attraction to them. According to the “Current Practices in Serious Game Research” article, the serious games is “a computer-based game with a primary purpose other than entertainment, ranging from anywhere between advertisements to military training exercises” (p.233).  The serious game is a type of games that raise the level of the academic and social skills of people, such as the skill of writing, searching for information, and the skill of acquiring new foreign languages, in addition to the skills of solving problems facing them, and critical thinking skills. The serious games introduce the players to the world around them and introduce them to new environments and experiences that they have not tried before. The serious game has the ability to raise the level of concentration of the players, in addition to raising the efficiency of memory and observation.

Part 2: APPLYING YOUR DEFINITION OF A SERIOUS GAME TO A SERIOUS GAME

According to the “Current Practices in Serious Game Research” article, playing a serious game is “ a complex task, even when an appropriate design was chosen for the intended learning outcomes: Players have to visually attend different locations on the screen, coordinate this with mouse or joystick movement, interpret verbal cues, and solve problems that occur during the game-play”(P.243). I played McDonald’s videogame. I consider this game as a serious game because it fits the criteria for a serious game. This is based on critical thinking and it develops problem-solving skills. In McDonald’s videogame, I have to make sandwiches but I have to go through a complex process to make the sandwiches. I have to create pastures then slaughter some cows then send vegetables and cow beef to the restaurant. At the end of this process, I start to prepare the components of the sandwich. All these steps need the player to have problem-solving skills because each step in the process has its challenges. This game introduces me to a new environment and makes me try new things that I haven’t tried before. McDonald’s videogame makes feel that I’m the owner of McDonald’s and I’m responsible for everything in this business. I think that this game has the ability to raise my level of concentration and improve my efficiency of memory and observation.

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