The evaluation of educational games has typically rested upon studies of leisure-based games
as no distinction between games for leisure time and
education was generally drawn. This was, in part, due to the fact that comparatively few games
were in use in mainstream tertiary education and training. However, over the last five years the
use of educational games in the mainstream has become more widespread, and, although still
regarded by many as peripheral to traditional teaching and learning practice, they are becoming
more commonplace in the classroom as gaming in the home becomes more pervasive In particular, there is a class of games that include an element of simulation
(and a class of simulations that are intended to be ‘played with’ by users) that is increasingly
viewed as having educational potential It is this overlap
between games and simulations that will be focused on within this paper. It should be recognised,
however, that the situation described above, concerning educational uptake, has been
different for simulations due to a longer association of its use to support education and training
– particularly for the use of military training and business and medical education. However, there
are few examples of frameworks to support practitioners using simulations and games