Share Paper: Design Principles for Creating and Maintaining Immersive Experiences in Educational Games

  1. Brian Arnold, Michigan State University, United States
  2. Matthew Koehler, Michigan State University, United States
  3. Spencer Greenhalgh, Michigan State University, United States
Tuesday, March 22 10:15-10:45 AM Scarbrough 2

Abstract: To maximize the learning possible from educational games, designers need to find better ways interest, engage, and immerse players. In this paper, we draw upon our experience and upon the rich traditions and research from film, storytelling and media to better understand how games can also be designed to create and maintain immersive experiences. We distill these sources into ten design principles that good games use to help establish and maintain immersion in games. We discuss how use of the proposed principles may help designers and practitioners get the most out of educational games.