Enjoy Serious Games in an L2/FL class!

Following the casual games, I tried to play some serious games listed on the syllabus, but they took much more time than the casual ones. So, I did not try every game on the list unfortunately, but I did each of them at least three times on average. In addition, I finally found a good game for L2 learners to learn English in an exciting game setting, and it is The Curfew. I tried to play this game a total of three times, and one time for each episode.  

As the game profile of The Curfew says, "the Curfew is an online interactive drama" game that is designed to "challenge young people to examine the freedoms they currently enjoy and the potential consequences if they do not protect them." During the game, I could play through the flashbacks by exploring the interactive 3D environments in each episode. Also, between the scene changes I could play mini games and solve puzzles. Questioning the character on the action he or she has just experienced, I went through the process of completing the mission. 

Compared to the casual games, it was harder to solve because it is designed by the more complicated plot, background, and characters. Despite this complexity, this game gave me a lot more excitement and fun in that I could play feeling like I was in the real world situation. Also, it provides subtitles to every sing word the characters say as well as the narration for the game story.

In much the same way as I mentioned in the review of the Griswold The Goblin in the previous post, I could assess whether my learning objectives had been met. This time, I set my learning goal taking the definition of Serious Game into account as follows: 

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem.Serious game will sometimes deliberately sacrifice fun and entertainment in order to achieve a desired progress by the player.

Given this, I focused on gaining problem-solving skills to achieve the desired progress of each episode and character on the basis of the given audio supported texts and subtitles. Surely, I made a lot of efforts to find hints or messages in a critical and creative way as I did in the casual game. The truth is, however, I felt more seriousness than I did in the casual game. In this regard, I think this kind of game would be a great help for over secondary school students as well as L2/FL learners.

To sump up, a serious game makes learners (or players) serious during the game as its name shows, but it also gives a good opportunity for them to be committed to a purpose-oriented task, and feel a sense of accomplishment when completing the task. Hence, I think the serious game would be beneficial to every learner, not only for language learners.