About Serious Games
Broadly defined, "a serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, and politics. The idea shares aspects with simulation generally, including flight simulation and medical simulation, but explicitly emphasizes the added pedagogical value of fun and competition."
Serious Games and Education
If educating people through the use of games interests you, this list of projects might give you ideas for your own projects:
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BiblioBouts ProjectThe BiblioBouts Project was a 3-year project (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011), to support the design, development, testing, and evaluation of a computer game to teach incoming undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.
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The Education ArcadeThe Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play...
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Learning via Gaming: An Immersive Environment for Teaching Kids HandwritingProf. Maxim of U-M Dearborn wrote a report detailing his project to create a computer game that helps children learn handwriting.
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LemonTreeA game for the University of Huddlesfield in the U.K. meant to inspire library patrons to become more actively involved at the library by winning game badges, points, etc.
Serious Games and Health
If games in health studies interests you, this list of projects might give you ideas for your own projects:
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Educational video game for juvenile diabetesPacky & Marlon, an interactive adventure video game that uses experiential learning to improve self-management of diabetic children and adolescents, was evaluated in a six-month controlled trial...
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FoldIt ProjectOnline gamers have used a game called FoldIt to help decipher "the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus," helping scientists to develop "new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs."
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Gaming for the Greater Good class (U-M)Games created in this U-M engineering course are developed into the therapy and assessment laboratories at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
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The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food DetectiveKaiser Permanente has released a game that focuses on teaching children how to fight obesity.
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The Magi and the Sleeping StarThis Kickstarter video game project was a combination RPG and health education game that teaches people how to deal with diabetes and blood sugar.
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Assessment and Treatment (PTSD)The Virtual Reality (VR) Assessment and Treatment of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) project develops immersive virtual environment applications for the treatment of Iraq War veterans diagnosed with PTSD.
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SuperBetterSuperbetter is the brainchild of Jane McGonigal – world renowned gamification guru. After she suffered a concussion in 2009, the resulting symptoms left Jane feeling depressed and suicidal. While she recovered, she created Jane the Concussion-Slayer, a game designed to treat her condition (as well as keeping her occupied). Seeing the success of JtC-S, she renamed it ‘Superbetter’ and developed a gamified application to help people achieve goals and overcome obstacles.
Serious Games and Military Training
If using games to augment military training interests you, this list of projects might give you ideas for your own projects:
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Cubic CorporationThe Cubic Corporation provides virtual combat training and scenarios through the use of games.
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Institute for Creative TechnologiesICT brings film and game industry artists together with computer and social scientists to study and develop immersive media for military training, health therapies, education and more.
Other Game Projects
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Darfur Is DyingDarfur is Dying is a web-based, viral video game that provides a window into the experience of the 2.5 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. It is designed to raise awareness of the genocide taking place in Darfur and empower college students to help stop the crisis.
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PeacemakerOriginally a university project, PeaceMaker became ‘a video game to promote peace’, focused on the Israeli-Palestine conflict. In this government simulator, players need represent one of the sides and make social, political and military decisions. The positive and negative consequences of these decisions teach the players about a vastly complex situation.
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Planet HuntersTo date, Planet Hunters volunteers found over 100 new planetary systems in data from TESS's predecessor, Kepler, and we are excited to find even more with the TESS data. Will the next planet be discovered by you?
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World Without OilAn alternate reality game (ARG) that lasted for 32 days in April-June, 2007. The game sought to make players understand how an oil crisis might affect their lives by getting them to describe how the crisis is affecting their area. After the 32 days were up, the game produced a valuable record to help anticipate problems and avoid a worst-case-scenario.
Curated Lists of Serious Games
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Extra Credits EDU - Steam Group“Games suitable for aiding and enhancing learning in various educational settings. All recommendations are categorized by suggested subjects, minimum play length, and recommended teacher gaming experience ”
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Purpose GamesPurpose Games was created to showcase the best games that do more than just entertain.
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Health Games Research DatabaseAdvancing effectiveness of interactive games for health.
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Science Game CenterThe goal of the Science Game Center is to demonstrate to teachers, scientists, museums, and parents the myriad ways games can be used to improve education in math and science.
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Serious Play Conference - Award ListClick on their "Awards" section to explore their most recent award-winning serious games.
Books from the Catalog
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Handbook of Research on Promoting Economic and Social Development Through Serious Games
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 1799897346Publication Date: 2022 -
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Video Games and Well-being : Press Start
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Call Number: eBookISBN: 3030327701Publication Date: 2020
News & Initiatives
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GamesAndLearning.orgGamesandlearning.org is a news and information service aimed at increasing the amount of information available for those interested in developing and funding new educational games for children and young adults.
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On Serious GamesOn Serious Games was created by a enthusiastic group of video games fanatics completely convinced that there is more than just entertainment to offer in this industry.
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Serious Play ConferenceThe Serious Play Conference is a leadership conference for professionals who embrace the idea that games can revolutionize learning.
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MIT Education Arcade: Games for Learning ProjectWe work with educators to make sure our games tie into their math and science curriculums. The games we develop can be played on computers or mobile devices, and are used both inside and outside the classroom.
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2025 3:12 PM
Subjects: Humanities, Social Sciences