Ines Harmuth
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Serious games – overview

The playful, social and interactive qualities of computer and video games make them not just a fascinating entertainment medium, but also an effective tool for educational, therapeutic and problem-solving purposes. ‘Serious games’ is the technical term for computer and video games of this kind. Serious games are used in highly diverse ways to communicate complex knowledge, heighten motivation and support patients in their healing process. Games thus have incredible potential. Because, whether for assisting our ageing population or interactively conveying new knowledge and competencies, serious games can make an important contribution to all these societal challenges. They offer clear advantages in comparison to classical learning methods and can be implemented regardless of users’ age or affinity for games.

Most serious games are created by smaller studios, often in direct collaboration with companies or universities. The budgets for serious games are generally far lower than those for major blockbuster titles. Moreover, not all are for-profit applications. One reason for this is that, instead of a broad mass market, serious games are often conceived for a sharply focused target group and are only used within a company or for a specific patient group. Nonetheless, their market potential shouldn’t be underestimated!

‘Serious games increase learners’ motivation over the long term and make complex concepts easier to understand. Along with an enormous potential in many sectors, such as education or healthcare, they also have very good economic prospects. Serious games present a major opportunity for our knowledge-based society.’

– Felix Falk, Managing Director of game

game – the German Games Industry Association works for the comprehensive improvement of conditions for the games industry in Germany.

For the area of serious games, we therefore call for:

Use games to enhance learning, in school and throughout life

Computer and video games are more than entertainment. They support people in virtually all spheres, open up new approaches, are easily accessible, encourage social interaction and serve to enhance performance in many ways. Their use should therefore be promoted in all areas of life. Our education system must take advantage of the opportunities games offer for digital education in schools, vocational schools, universities and continuing training, and for lifelong learning. The development of games for use in education must be promoted and advanced in a targeted manner. Media literacy and programming knowledge are fundamental for school pupils in the digital age and must be a compulsory area of school curricula.

game Fokus Serious Games

The “game Fokus Serious Games” provides an overview of this particularly exciting field of the games industry. Practical examples from the fields of education, vocational training and medical therapies show how serious games are already being used successfully today. The game Focus also contains an overview of the economic significance of serious games and an outlook on the trends that can be expected in the coming years.

Further links

  • Our gamesmap.de lists publishers and game development studios in the area of serious games.
  • Video games with educational potential – a curated selection of games for learning, compiled by Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur for parents, teachers and educators.
  • Games and Memory Culture – Online database for digital games with aspects of memory culture. The database is maintained by Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur and Arbeitskreis Geschichtswissenschaft und Digitale Spiele.
  • Database for serious games and Brochure Serious Games created in framework of the project ‘WTT Serious Games’ at the TU Darmstadt, including best practice examples for serious games and a map of professionales working in the field of Serious Games.
  • A filtered search for ‘Serious Games’ allows visitors to game.de/mitglieder/ to view all association members relevant to this sector.