Constituent Elements of the Killer Application
Games engage players on three main fronts:
• The structure of the game provides motivation and the urge to solve problems for the problem's sake
alone.
• The backstory or narrative provides the believability or authenticity of engagement.
• Characterization makes the player's role in the narrative believable so that the player can engage fully
in the game.
Not surprisingly, these are also the elements around which learning situations can be constructed. The
learning game that works both as a game and as education will use these elements to encourage
engagement and support pedagogical objectives. In particular, the design of such an application would
translate these elements into the following key features.