A participatory methodology for the design of serious games in the educational environment

Different works in the educational field have proposed many applications for serious games (SGs) that have had immense positive impact and great success. Nevertheless, despite their potential, the application of SGs in education has been limited in terms of pedagogy. Several authors assert that this lack is because SG standards and guidelines have not been developed, and that there is an imbalance between the contribution from experts in education and game design specialists during the SG development. Specifically, methodologies that incorporate both game and pedagogical components in the requirements definition phase are necessary to develop serious games successfully. The definition of requirements must guide the development process. Many SG studies and projects indicates that games that are not well designed at the initial phase lose qualities and fail to fulfill pedagogical objectives. The goal of this study is to present a framework for a game design methodology that gives the gamer options for flexible participation in the game. We analyze the tasks associated with game design methodologies and serious educational games, especially those linked to gamers with non-standard cognitive abilities. Our approach identifies how educational innovation and the teaching-learning process contribute to game design. We propose an overall development focus based on a participatory, flexible, user-centered methodology adaptable to any type of gamer.