In this post Dr. David Chandross explores simulation gaming and looks at how gamified branching simulations can mimic real world learning problems. Check us out at www.gameandtrain.com for more information and great content!

2. Simulation is the representation of real world problems which can be used to rehearse skill deployment in medicine,
engineering, coaching and a myriad of other fields. There is an abundant literature on simulation in all of these fields
and a robust research community surrounding it. In this post we are going to look at mobile simulation game design,
an area we have been developing intensively in response to growing demand for gamified simulation.
First of all, as we discussed in earlier posts, simulation is identical to reality in many contexts, ie, if you fail during a
simulation, you will most likely not be successful in real life. Similarly, if you make the right choices during a
simulation, your chance of responding in real time to the same event are very high. This goes against some earlier
pushback on simulations which viewed them as add-ons rather than the substance of learning. It is increasingly
evident that simulation is as “good as the real thing”.

3. The above graphic shows how we create branching wire frame simulations. The client enters their text in the starting
location “a 43 year old male experiences shortness of breath, what do you do first?”. That is the red circle. Each of the
other circles is an option “blood gases” in the blue text, “call head nurse” in green, “do a physical examination” in the
orange. This is a simple flow chart branching decision tree. However, it gets a lot more interesting;

4. Now we can offer several choices from the start location, which branch again, producing a second generation decision
tree. “You take blood gas measurements and they go into cardiac arrest while waiting for the results!”. Now you can
create not only the initial condition, but also create branching pathways which depend on earlier decisions. This gets
to be like reality. Things do not go as planned, many outcomes can occur.

5. Now you can create longer branching simulations, the diagram above just shows one track we might identify as the
“best path”. This does not mean that the player needs to get to the end! We can weight each node in the branching
simulation, so that it scores the progress. Now players can choose good, better and best options, rather than simply
try to beat the system. This is the kind of game system we design for our clients.

6. That is the design of mobile text-based simulations (which have a lot of graphics, but are based on text decisions).
Observing the slide above, there are many ways to conduction medical simulations or those in other fields. We have
only scraped the surface with the first option, computer based sims. What if, however, we design an app that gamifies
virtual reality, real life training, manikin procedures, tracks our decisions for standardized patients, our create high
fidelity simulation? What if we now want to add a back-story, with more narrative? Again, mobile simulation
gamification comes into play, we can use the app to track these processes and use a game system to link the
simulations together into a meaningful narrative with rewards, points and exploration elements.

7. These hybrid and multi-modal simulations incorporate the use of apps, analytics, decision pathing, virtual reality,
augmented reality and other tools. Simulation games therefore are more than simply adding a game element to the
simulation, they are full, branching knowledge networks which are used to leverage training. You might be able to, for
example, toss aside all the lectures in a given course and simply give a series of simulations to learners. If they repeat
them often enough, they won't need a lecture. They will have learned by doing.

8. Digital simulation gamification, can we call this DSG? Maybe. It is tempting to create a new language around all of
this. Once more, out of gamification an entire approach to learning has emerged which puts the student squarely in
the command seat. Make it so, number one!
If you like this series on emerging tech in learning, stay with us! Until our next post, keep on looking up!