Proposal for a generic serious games toolkit: integrating qualitative insights and Agent-Based Modeling

The integration of qualitative methodologies in the development of serious games enhances their educational effectiveness and user engagement. This study aims to develop a participatory methodology and toolkit that incorporates qualitative insights into agent-based models (ABMs) for serious games. The methodology involved uses qualitative methods such as literature review, theoretical analysis, expert insights and best practices. The findings were: (a) Active stakeholder collaboration from the initial stages ensures that models accurately reflect real-world contexts and diverse perspectives. (b) The use of narrative scenarios allows for the examination of complexity and uncertainty and their interactions over time. (c) Incorporating qualitative data into ABMs enhances the accuracy and relevance of the models. (d) Continuous validation with users’ data is crucial for developing relevant and adaptable models. A framework integrating qualitative methodologies from which insights can be translated into ABMs and a toolkit which enables game designers to construct and test prototypes on the target audience to measure engagement and gather feedback, is proposed. The purpose of the toolkit is to facilitate the implementation of these models and to link agents to player controls, stimuli, and results critical for player engagement. This approach provides significant value to educational communities, society, and decision-makers by facilitating the creation of serious games that are both engaging and educationally effective and support informed decision-making and policy development through accurate and relevant modelling.