Table of Contents

Video Games in eLearning

In a previous post, Brian talked about board games in training and why Chutes and Ladders is better than Jeopardy. Lately, my focus has been on eLearning, and occasionally I struggle to make the asynchronous training interactive and interesting. When this happens during my design process of an instructor-led training (ILT), I have often asked myself “Could this be a game?”.  While I find the design process of an eLearning to be very different than ILT design, I did sit back recently and asked myself a similar question about an eLearning module. This time, however, I asked myself “Could this be a video game?”

Simplified Video Games in eLearning

The idea of adding video games in eLearning is not as intimidating or expensive as it sounds. I am not suggesting you attempt to recreate Halo 2 in Storyline. Video games in eLearning should be simple little interactions that feel like you are in a game world. Select two or three game elements that these short interactions need to make it feel like a game. It is really about the style and feel of the game and not that your training functions exactly like the original game.

Simple games are the easiest to recreate. I find the original 8- or 16-bit games to work pretty well in training. I have also used a few modern games that have a simple format and are easy to recreate the look and feel. Let’s take a look a few ideas for eLearning video games.

Game Inspiration
Learning ObjectiveDesign ElementsApplication for training
Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros - Video Games in eLearning

Discover and correct…Increase of power when encountering positive elements.

 

Decrease of power when encountering negative elements.

Super Mario Brothers is a great learning from failure game. Within seconds of playing you learn mushrooms and coins are good and falling off cliffs and Koopa Troopas are bad.

In training, allow participants to discover elements that increase or decrease energy in some way. Allow lots of (if not infinite) room for failure with unlimited lives or an equivalent. The true strength of this format is the learning that happens when a mistake is made.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds - Video Games in eLearning

 

Describe the features that…Aim and launch objectsThe foundation of Angry Birds is to slingshot an angry bird at a group of pigs to destroy their structure.  Each color of bird has different launch properties.

If you are explaining features of a product or technology, swap the pigs out for whatever problem the features address, and swap the birds out for the features.

Minecraft or Zelda

Minecraft

Complete a task…Badging that builds to a completionIn Minecraft and Zelda, you collect things that you later use to complete something. In a training where completing two or more tasks is an objective, design inventories similar to Zelda or Minecraft.  Once the inventory reaches a certain threshold, the mission is complete.
Role Playing Games (RPG)

Battle for Wesnoth  World Map - Storytelling

Analyze…StorytellingI’ll admit that I haven’t played a lot of RPG games, but I have seen them in action. RPGs are basically a form of interactive storytelling.  In RPGs, players spend a lot of time exploring the land and asking questions of the locals.

In eLearning, allow participants time to explore an area, click on characters who give them information, and lead them to conclude the story on their own.

 

Have you incorporated video games in eLearning? Are you thinking of adding video games to training? I want to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Articles Similar to Video Games in eLearning

elearning developer qa checklist
Elearning
Lindsay Garcia

Elearning QA Checklist

Elearning developers should provide the first, and maybe the most thorough, quality assurance (QA) of an elearning module. Our team uses an elearning QA checklist

better learner certificates
Elearning
Hannah Radant

Better Learner Certificates in Articulate Storyline

Learner certificates often appear at the end of a course to verify and recognize the achievement of a learner. Articulate Storyline has made it very easy to do this by adding a print slide trigger.
Today’s blog post outlines the steps to elevating this print feature to a lightbox slide. It includes how to build it and a downloadable file as well!

adding audio in articulate rise
Elearning
Erin Clarke

5 Ways to Add Audio in Articulate Rise

What is one way to make Articulate Rise more engaging? Audio! Our team took on the challenge of exploring the options, benefits, and limitations in adding audio in Rise.

elearning easter eggs
Elearning
Brian Washburn

Fun with Elearning Design: Hiding Easter Eggs

Planting an Easter Egg (or a dozen Easter Eggs) in your elearning project is next level engagement. Today’s blog post offers a variety of ways you can drop an unexpected, surprise element into your next project.

Kate Udalova on microlearning and AI
Elearning
Brian Washburn

Using 7Taps with AI for Microlearning

AI is all the rage these days. 7Taps has figured out a way to embed AI into their microlearning platform to make your experience even quicker. It looks like this is the future of AI in learning tools. 7Taps co-founder Kate Udalova shares her insights.

Subscribe to Get Updates from Endurance Learning

Brian Washburn, Author

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll send you the latest updates from our blog. Thanks for following!

Find Your L&D Career Path

Explore the range of careers to understand what role might be a good fit for your L&D career.

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the What’s Possible in L&D Worksheet.

What's possible in L&D

Let's Talk Training!

Brian Washburn

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll get back to you soon.

Download the Feedback Lesson Plan

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the lesson plan as a PDF.

feedback lesson plan
MS Word Job Aid Template

Download the Microsoft Word Job Aid Template

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the Word version of this template.

Download the Free Lesson Plan Template!

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a Word document that you can start using today!

free lesson plan template
training materials checklist

Download the Training Materials Checklist

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Training Materials Checklist.

Subscribe to Endurance Learning for updates

Get regular updates from the Endurance Learning team.