Serious games as social innovation tools

Abstract

Serious games are games with specific purposes that go beyond entertainment and are utilized for a wide range of purposes. This article sought to investigate whether serious games can conceptually be considered as social innovation tools and be used to achieve social innovation goals based on studies surrounding both subjects. A two-phase research was carried out, the first being a literature review of qualitative nature of publications that characterized the subjects around serious games and social innovation, and the second being an investigation of four existing serious games to evaluate whether the link between both subjects could be found in real cases. The study allowed the creation of a table identifying in the serious games different social innovation reoccurring themes gathered in the first phase of the research. The results also suggest that the concepts and objectives of serious games and social innovation have many correlations, such as both being considered creative strategies to present solutions to minimize social problems, social innovation being a broader concept that encompasses different methods, and serious games being considered one of them. Therefore, it was concluded that serious games indeed can be considered tools for social innovation, answering the main question of the article.

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“…Games are an intermediary medium to attract people and help them spend their leisure time in a pleasant way. Apart from their playful function, games also offer a way to explore and explain complex social issues in a less intimidating way (Gomes et al, 2021). There have been numerous attempts in recent years to apply games and game-like methods to serious issues and discussions (Castronova and Knowles, 2015).…”

“…Serious games are open to engagingly addressing urgent social issues, as well as discussing actions and solutions. When properly encouraged and valued, serious games are proven to be innovative products for tackling social problems and for promoting social innovation (Gomes et al, 2021). However, the use of commercial board games as serious games has not been common; digital games have been preferred by far (Castronova and Knowles, 2015).…”