Excellent choice design will increase the engagement of your learners in the story, intrigue them about consequences and entice them to replay to check out other paths.

Choices in branching scenarios consist of three closely interconnected parts:Framing: the information the learner uses to make the choiceOptions: the possible choicesOutcomes: what happens due to choosing one of the options.

Choices can offer diverse acceptable ways to achieve the same goal, giving learners opportunity to personalise the experience.

An extra path can also replace boring “try again” situations: the consequence shows your choice was not ideal, but you simply continue and get another chance further in the story to make a better informed, similar choice.

Clear and confined parameters help to make the choice feel integral to the context, while still leaving room for personal expression and emotional connection.

One of my favourite narrative designers, Jon Ingold from Inkle Studios, introduced the accept – reject – deflect model. For example, in a conversational choice where someone asks you a question, this could mean the following:Accept: continue the current conversation, e.g. simply answer the questionReject: react negatively or refuse to answer. Deflect: change the topic, e.g. ignore, bounce a question back or refocus attention

"There are a lot of terrible educational games out there, where you have to do something unfun, like solve five math problems, so you can do something fun, like play a game," said Ben Stokes, a games expert at the MacArthur Foundation.<br><br> Instead, the experts are interested in the educational benefits of commercially available games that were not expressly designed for school use--simulation games like Zoo Tycoon, in which elementary school-age children can build virtual zoos by selecting animals, creating appropriate habitats, managing food budgets and even setting the prices of popcorn at the concession stands.<br>

So, rather than only translating traditional testing methods like MCQs into serious games, designers of serious games can also build on the methods that have worked in mainstream video games. That isn't to say that game designers already know everything there is to know about testing and other pedagogical methods. Nor are we saying that traditional testing methods have no place in a game environment. Instead, both game designers and educational professionals need to work together in developing serious games as a new teaching tool.

<p>Perhaps the most fundamental property of a constructivist learning environment is that it offers a context for student learning. </p> <p>Context-embedded learning has been a cornerstone of the constructivist movement since the early 1900’s. Now, nearly a century later, video games and simulations can offer new contexts for student learning that would not have been available to students in the past.</p>

When it comes to online games, women over 40 play the most often and spend the greatest number of hours doing so, even beating out teenage boys, according to a study conducted by Digital Marketing Services.

You may have noticed three separate islands where you work. There's an island of senior executives with their top-down, bottom line, control-freak approach to the other islands. There's a far away island of gamers thriving on fun challenges and immersive gameplay. In between, there's an island of trainers, instructional designers and content developers struggling to reach out to both of the other islands.

In 2007, results from a breakthrough Harvard video game study found that children used video games to manage their feelings, the stereotype of the socially stunted gamer was a myth, and there was no obvious connection between violent games and youth crime.