ABSTRACT
Playing games is an important part of our social and mental development.
This research was initiated to identify the game type most suitable to our teaching
Environment and to identify game elements that students found interesting or
Useful within the different game types. A group of twenty students played four
Commercial games (SimIsle, Red Alert, Zork Nemesis and Duke Nukem 3D).
Results suggest that students prefer 3D-adventure (Zork Nemesis) and strategy
(Red Alert) games to the other types (“shoot-em-up”, simulation) with Zork
Nemesis ranked as the best. Students rated game elements such as logic, memory,
Visualization and problem solving as the most important game elements. Such
Elements are integral to adventure games and are also required during the
Learning process. We present a model that links pedagogical issues with game
Elements. The game space contains a number of components, each encapsulates
Specific abstract or concrete interfaces. Understanding the relationship between
Educational needs and game elements will allow us to develop educational
Games that include visualizations and problem solving skills. Such tools could
Provide sufficient stimulation to engage learners in knowledge discovery, while
at the same time developing new skills.