Playing to Learn: Game-Driven Comprehension of Complex Content

Instructional games have become an established factor in corporate and government training, and they are beginning to appear to a greater extent in educational institutions. As a result, courses on instructional game development are being incorporated into educational programs. Students in these courses find themselves faced with the task of confronting, understanding, and internalizing concepts that they have never before encountered. This article reports the practice and result of using games in one such course, and uses student commentary to support the conclusion that the games used were successful in reducing anxiety, increasing motivation, and improving understanding.