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Abstract: Recently, Serious Games (SG) achieved a recognized position as a learning tool in several contexts. SG provide constructive learning environments in which errors can be made without real life penalties and where students get instant feedback from their actions when facing challenges. These challenges should be in accordance with the intended learning goals and they should adapt and/or be repeated according to the learner's level. This aspect is decisive in the acquisition of knowledge, experience and professional skills through the simulation of different situations and contexts. The effectiveness of competences' training is directly related to the success in their acquisition but, above all, it is related to the ability to apply them to successfully perform a given task. However, an optimal game design methodology for competence training is yet to be created. This article presents a study that identifies the most appropriate game categories to develop specific skills and competences. It considers a taxonomy with eight game categories (Action, Strategy, Playing, Sports, Management Simulation, Adventure, Puzzle and Quiz) that were matched with the Education Competences and Educational Competency Wheel. Analysing 116 serious games allowed identifying which categories were more efficient in the training of a specific competence and therefore should be reused in the same scope.
Keywords: serious games, skills, competences, assessment, game type, game-based learning
1. Introduction
In recent years Serious Games (SGs) attained an increasing interest from many researchers on different fields such as psychology, cultural studies, computer science, sociology and pedagogy. It is clear that there is a growing focus on SGs demonstrated by an increasing number of conferences, companies, and publications devoted to the subject (Ratan and Ritterdeld, 2009). Although there is an acknowledgement of the great value of SGs in education and of the potential benefits of using digital games to engage learners and to improve the learning effectiveness, there is still little insight on the possibilities of using SGs in the particular context of competences' training.
Our aim with this paper is precisely to offer a contribution to identify the most appropriate SGs game categories to ensure the successful training and certification of skills. The paper considers a taxonomy of eight game categories (Action, Strategy, Role-Playing, Sports, Management Simulation, Adventure, Puzzle and Quiz) and relates it...