Recently Google tested its hiring algorithms and found that seven out of their eight most important employee qualities involve soft skills. These include: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others; having empathy toward and being supportive of colleagues; being a good critical thinker; problem solving; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. These skills are as teachable as any other skill. MIT Sloan researchers have the data to prove that not only can soft skills be taught, but that by doing so companies can recognize substantial ROI. The problem is that most companies don't know how to teach soft skills effectively. The answer is serious games. By using serious games, companies can engage learners on a much deeper level, simulate real-world situations, encourage peer collaboration, provide instant feedback, and measure results. During this session we will showcase four simulation games designed to improve leadership, sales, and customer service skills, as well as alter IT security behaviors. In this session, you will learn: - The importance of soft skills in any corporate environment - Why games are the best tool to use to train soft skills - How powerful branching path games are for training leadership, sales, customer service, and cyber security - How to build an engaging scenario or branching path game to train soft skills - How to use data and analytics to measure the success of your branching path game, or how to understand where you may need to make changes in your game to change soft skills behavior

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RICHARD LOWENTHAL
Managing Partner
The Game Agency

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About Us
TGA is an award-winning
digital agency and software
development studio.
Engage
Using the power of play, we
create experiences to drive
awareness + retention.
Educate
We capture people’s attention
and keep them actively engaged
with fun and relevant content.
Analyze
We measure usage and
outcomes to optimize game
effectiveness, maximize
campaign success, & provide
actionable next steps.
THE GAME AGENCY

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13 YEARS OF GAME-BASED TRAINING
Custom Games
Turn-Key Games

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IN THIS SESSION WE WILL REVIEW
Why
Game-Based
Training
1 2 3 4
Where Serious
Games Are
Being Used
How To Design
Branching
Paths
2 Examples
of Branching
Paths

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WHY GAMES?
GAMES ENGAGEoffer a fun and safe spaces to learn,
practice, fail, and ultimately master critical skills
simulate
real-world
situations
1 2 3 4
require
real-time
decisions
provide
instant
feedback
track
knowledge
& behaviors

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ALIGNING A GAME WITH YOUR OBJECTIVE
IDENTIFYING
fast paced quick recall and
response testing with right
and wrong responses
SOFT SKILLS
responses
• Estimate
• Explain
• Infer
• Interpret
• Predict
• Relate
VISUALIZING
cause-and-effect based
on decisions (good, bad,
best)
• Calculate
• Change
• Connect
• Empathize
• Relate
• Solve
CATEGORIZING
puzzles, challenges, solution
driven experience
• Appraise
• Categorize
• Classify
• Compare
• Conclude
• Prioritize
DESCRIBING
simulated, immersive
environments, free
roaming, and collaborative
• Anticipate
• Assemble
• Construct
• Design
• Invent
• Recognize
GameSkills
retain specific details
without knowing what to
pay attention to beforehand
• Categorize
• Find
• Identify
• Memorize
• Recall
• Recognize

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WHY SOFT SKILLS?
@ GOOGLE
7 OF 8 MOST IMPORTANT
HIRING SKILLS ARE
SOFT SKILLS

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GOOGLE WANTS THEIR EMPLOYEES TO. . .
Coach Communicate
& Listen
Be Intuitive
Make
Connections
Empathize
Think
Critically
Problem
Solve
1 2 3 4
5 6 7

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CAN SOFT SKILLS BE TAUGHT?
Yes. Not only can one teach soft
skills but by doing so, companies
can realize substantial ROI

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THE BEST WAY TO TEACH SOFT SKILLS
GAMES!
SERIOUS

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SERIOUS GAMES: ALL SHAPES, SIZES & TOPICS
Construction RetailHealthcare
Transportation TelecommunicationsFinance

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BUT, DO THEY WORK? … YES
Source: National Training Laboratories
5%
10%
20%
30%
50%
75%
90%
LECTURES
READING
AUDIO / VISUAL
DEMONSTRATION
DISCUSSION
PRACTICE
TEACHING
PASSIVE
LEARNING
ACTIVE
LEARNING

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WHAT ARE POPULAR SERIOUS GAMES?
PATHS
BRANCHING

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LET’S TALK ABOUT BRANCHING PATHS
Story
Driven
Multiple
Decision
Points
Unique
Experiences

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BRANCHING PATHS GO BEYOND GAMES…
Choose Your Own Adventure
(old media)
Bannersnatch
(new media)

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BEST PRACTICES
BRANCHING PATHS
MAKING EFFECTIVE

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BEST PRACTICES
relatable scenarios,
settings, characters
and challenges, make
it easy for learners to
get into the game
Tell A
Story
Great

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CHOICES SHOULD BE MEANINGFUL
Request
Summary Report Hang up on Bo
Throw Coffee
on Computer

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LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CHOICES
Ask for the Senior Business
Analyst contact
Get a junior BA to review the
summary
End the call
Ask for a summary report
follow up via email
Ask for a brief of the summary
on this call
Schedule another meeting to
go over the summary report

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KEEP TEXT SHORT & DIALOGUE BELIEVABLE
So Jeremy, on page seven of
the report in section 5a, you
list the need to mix
component A with component
B when the correct protocol
clearly states that this might
be way too much text for one
answer.
And to then duplicate this text
over and over for each choice
will make people fatigued
from reading so much text. If
you find that having this much
text is needed for choices,
maybe branching narrative
isn’t the best tool for teaching
this particular content..
Kind of like how when people
put a ton of text on a slide. Like
a presentation is not the format
for a white paper and it is even
worse when a presenter will just
read the text off the slide in a
monotone voice during the
afternoon.

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FEEDBACK = WHAT HAPPENS IN THE GAME
Sorry I can’t right
now, I have another
meeting in 3 min!

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SAVE DETAILED FEEDBACK FOR THE END
GAME OVER
Nice Try
When you were on a call you did this thing.
And because of that you couldn’t do that
thing which lead to this outcome.
In addition you did this which made the
client upset because of that.

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DON’T LET DESIGN DISTRACT LEARNERS

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MAPPING OUT THE EXPERIENCE
Flow Chart or Spreadsheet

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AVOID THE PINETREE PATTERN
Where suboptimal choices lead to the ending
Let learners explore and turn bad choices into good ones

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AVOID TOO MANY BRANCHES
This leads to too much content

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REDUCE CONTENT NEEDED
This leads to too much content

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FIRST EXAMPLE

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Doctors
● Complex patients
● Electronic charts
● Long hours and on call
● High performers
● Exponential information
● Short attention span
● Less learning time
● Stress and burnout
THE AUDIENCE

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● Fun and engaging
● Practice in safe space
● Visual information
● Bite-size
● Replayable
● Competitive
WHY GAME-BASED TRAINING?

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● Soft skills
● Deductive reasoning
● Communication skills
● Simulation
● Scoring
● Rationales
WHY BRANCHING PATHS?
A C C E
B B
D D G
F

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SECOND EXAMPLE

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WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER PRIORITIES?
Pay it Forward
1 2 3 4Develop Mentor
Relationship
Improve Public
Speaking
Develop Brand
Statement
Self Promotion
5 6 7 8Invest Time In
Relationships
Become a
Mentor
Asking &
Receiving Feedback
Enhance Risk
Talking
9 10 11 12Take Advantage
of Training
Difficult
Conversations
Emotional
Intelligence (EQ)

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HOW DID YOU PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME?

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EXPLORING REAL WORLD SITUATIONS
The organization needs someone to organize and lead the Summer Interns and
this time seems to be your turn.What do you do?
OptionA
Yes, you love the idea and
you don’t want to say no
to your boss
OptionC
Yes and co lead the work
with your good colleague
Option B
You say no, this looks like
something others will not
recognize
Mixed message, ignores
potential visibility
Takes more time and
additional planning

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HOW DID YOUR PRIORITIES CHANGE?

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THE RESULT?
Engaged
Learners
Increased
Attention
Sustained
Focus
Improved
Confidence
Reinforced
Knowledge
Changed
Behavior
Higher
Performance
More
Revenue
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8

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DEMO FEST
TABLE 8

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Richard Lowenthal
Managing Partner, The Game Agency
richard.lowenthal@thegameagency.com
(310) 863-8107
Thank You!

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