How To Get The Best Results From Games?
There is, nowadays, game-based learning, where employees are taught through gaming simulations. But some mistakes can be made, even while using this foolproof strategy. Companies have to implement games based on the people they are training. The age of the target audience decides the complexity level of the games.
The Choice Of Authoring Tools
Designing games is a challenging task, because you have to include triggers in them. Triggers are activated in games when the player does a certain action. For example, a player is directed to a certain slide when they answer a required number of questions correctly. Apart from this, games must have vector characters to which the players can relate. Also, those who successfully complete the games must be given badges, again to be taken from asset libraries. The course authoring tools generally have asset libraries which can be used for this purpose. If a company does not use the right authoring tools, it will need a lot of time and have to use graphic designers to create these badges and vectors.
Designing Game-Based Learning
It's also important that the games are tested for their usability, because if they are not, they can prove to be arduous for players. Testers have to see whether the employees can cope with the game, because if they cannot understand it and clear the levels, it's a waste of time. The game mechanics must be designed based on the players' literacy and understanding levels. When a company can't train employees due to the difficulty level of the game, its expenditure on game-based learning is futile.
Hence, every game should have levels from simple to complex. When the learners can pass the simpler levels, they should be allowed to move on to the next level. If a game is too complicated in the beginning, it can cause learners to withdraw from the game. Therefore, a company also has to see that its game-based learning is revised after taking feedback and that the final version is up to the mark. If no feedback is taken, then the developed game will not be satisfactory.
Factors To Bear In Mind While Designing Game-Based Learning
1. Games Must Be Related To Training Goals
Every game aims to ensure that players exhibit a certain level of behavior after playing the game. Another problem is that the games might not serve the purpose for which they were designed (i.e., the audience might not fulfill any of the learning objectives). Hence, the game might have to be designed from scratch. Therefore, the game's objectives should be clear from the outset, because some games have to encourage cooperation between players while others pit them against each other, to attain the best sales outcome. That's why game mechanics must match training goals, and those goals could be either related to doing the work in a particular manner to fulfill the quality assurance level, or to following the compliance rules. If the employee does or does not demonstrate the desired behavior while playing the game, reward or penalize them within the game.
2. They Must Provide The Correct Incentive
When employees are given incentives, they are likely to remember even complicated knowledge. Hence, the company has to consider whether or not it should include incentives in games. The trainees need incentives to recall things. It's beneficial to use a carrot-and-stick approach in games. Gamers who cannot answer questions within a specific time limit should be penalized with negative points. However, if they succeed and answer questions correctly within the set time, allow them to proceed. Effective game-based learning is about understanding the psychology of the players.
3. They Must Be Accessible On Smart Phones
Companies must also take care in their game-based learning initiatives that employees must be able to play these games on their mobile phones. A game's accessibility is restricted if the employees can't play it on mobile phones. Onboarding game-based learning can't be restricted to just laptops, because new employees, especially Gen Z, like to navigate content on their smartphones. Employees traversing a long distance to the workplace may need more energy to play a game in the office, but will watch it on their mobile phones en route to the workplace.
A company must take care of these factors while designing games, to get the best possible results from game-based learning.
