Serious Games Showcase & Challenge 2025 Evaluator Voting

Provide your objective evaluation of each game in order to determine the SGS&C Winners for 2025.

Evaluator Scoring 2025

Thank you for volunteering as Serious Games Evaluator! Please provide your objective evaluation of each game.

Evaluator

Evaluator Responsibilities Agreement and Game Selection(Required)
By accepting your role as an evaluator and accessing the link to box.com, you agree that you understand that access to game materials is provided solely for use in your evaluations as part of the Evaluator Committee for the SGS&C at I/ITSEC. You agree to remove any game materials from your evaluation devices as soon as your evaluation is complete and to not share details about the games nor game materials with anyone outside of our SGS&C committee. Finally, you agree that you will recuse yourself from evaluating any game for which you have any potential conflicts of interest.

Please indicate that you agree with this statement, by selecting the “YES” option below.

If you do not agree, please let our Evaluation committee know and we will remove you as an evaluator.

Technical

Graphically Clear with Appropriate Visual Fidelity(Required)
This refers to the game’s display and visuals being both clear and with enough detail, granularity, and depth to amply support the game.

Clear Sound with Appropriate Audio Fidelity(Required)
This refers to the game’s audio, background ambiance, and other and sounds both clear and consistent, in both quality and quantity, to amply support the game.

Appropriate Speed(Required)
Appropriate speed for required actions. This refers to the technical performance of the game, i.e., the response time of the system to player actions.

Sensory Conflicts(Required)
This refers to the sound level, audio background noise/music, visual aesthetics, etc. Consistency and balance are key here. The background noise should not be too disruptive or distracting. The colors chosen should help create an aesthetically pleasing visual field of display. The objects should be sized correctly and scaled appropriately for their intended purpose.

Smooth Information Flow(Required)
This refers to the access and availability of information for the player. The information should be presented in a timely and appropriate manner so that the player has the information needed to proceed in the game.

Free of Programming Bugs(Required)
Programming bugs include any programming error that causes the game to pause or stop the game, e.g., the game just quits, displays a debug window or a crash log, or crashes the whole operating system.

Learning

Learning Occurs through Gameplay and Achievement of Game Goal(s)(Required)
This refers to the game having an underlying instructional purpose, i.e., players should learn something through gameplay although the learning goals may be very different from the game goal.

Achievement of Learning Objectives is Tracked / Measured(Required)
This refers to the game’s ability to keep track of player progress toward learning objectives. This information may or may not be shared with the player during gameplay.

Guidance / Scaffolding / Help during Gameplay(Required)
This refers to the availability of assistance and adaptability of the game to player needs. Players of varying skill level should be able to engage with the game at an appropriate level. As player gains skill and/or challenge level increments.

Feedback about Achievement of Learning Objectives(Required)
The game should provide some sort of feedback to let the player know how they are doing with respect to the learning objective (not just the game’s goal as this might be different from the learning objective).

Integration(Required)
The game mechanics in a game (the actions players engage in) must be well matched to the content of the game (content = the problems to be solved). When game mechanics are not well matched to content we get a bad game and, in the learning space, a “chocolate on broccoli” game.

Gameplay

Engaging & Fun(Required)
This is the extent to which the game grabs and holds the player’s attention; the degree to which the player wants to continue to play; a motivated state of eagerness to play the game.

Intuitive Interface(Required)
This refers to the gameplay arrangement. Interface controls should be easy to find or use. They should be easy to access without being disruptive to the game. The options should make sense for the game’s intention. The navigation should be easy and intuitive.

Clear, Consistent, Understandable Rules of Play(Required)
This refers to the rules about what to do and not to do once you begin gameplay. Rules should be easy to find, easy to understand, and consistent throughout the game.

Independent Action / Autonomy of Choice is Possible(Required)
This is from the player’s perspective. The player should have the independence and power to choose the path they would like to take in the game.

Uncertainty of Outcome / Possibility of Failure or Success(Required)
This should be part of the game’s design. This is known academically as contrived contingency. A game can’t have a single assured outcome that the player is aware of, because then there’s no tension — the player knows precisely where the game is going. The game has to give the player the possibility of failing or ending up in different places.

Playable Game; Goal is Achievable(Required)
There should be an overall game goal, a place or state called success, and it is achievable. There is a way to play and win; it is feasible, plausible, and possible.

Bonus

Innovation(Required)
Novel content, instructional strategy or interface; clever use of hardware or platform features (e.g., accelerometer, GPS, multi-touch, etc.); original approach to advance science; raise awareness, impact society, etc. For XR, this additionally means the game grabs the attention of the learner is a unique or mesmerizing way.