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Keywords: Video games, Education, Game studies, Art, Design-Based research
1. Introduction
This paper presents the design and initial testing of VAFUG, an acronym derived from the three proposed categories: Visual and Auditory Environment, Fictional Universe, and Core Gameplay). VAFUG is a practical analytical model developed through Design-Based Research (DBR), aimed at helping educators critically examine commercial video games and create meaningful educational activities.
Video games offer significant potential to create learning opportunities. Pedagogical efforts have delved into the design of serious games specifically focused on providing valuable educational outcomes. On the other hand, there is a comparatively limited body of research on the educational application of Commercial Off-the-Shelf Games (COTS). As noted in the literature review by Oceja et al., there is a "historical lack of research focusing on these games in comparison with educational games" (2022: 420). The aim of this research is to provide a tool to support educators in evaluating independent commercial video games for use in their pedagogical strategies.
Previous research has focused on establishing connections between the enjoyment and engagement of serious games and the achievement of valuable educational outcomes. One notable example is the LM-GM model developed by Arnab et al. Their tool focuses on serious games, identifying numerous learning-relevant mechanics as well as general video game features. Its aim is to identify Serious Game Mechanics, that is, "the game components that translate a pedagogical practice/pattern into concrete game mechanics directly perceivable by a player's actions" (Arnab et al., 2015: 6). Our model can be considered a complementary work to this tool for two main reasons. First, we explore independent commercial video games that are not necessarily designed for educational use. In addition, we focus on video game components that support the development of Key Competences 5 (Personal, Social and Learning to Learn Competence) and 6 (Citizenship Competence).
VAFUG is also influenced by previous approaches to game analysis synthesized by Kłosiński's (2022), and stems from theories developed within Game Studies and Aesthetics. For instance, Fernández-Vara's (2015) textual analysis includes a substantial discussion of the formal elements that structure video games, distinguishing between the rules governing ludic design and the fictional world as related but separate dimensions-a distinction also found in other frameworks (Juul, 2005; Mäyrä, 2008; Navarro-Remesal, 2016)....