Serious Games for Vocational Training: From Emotional Labor to Knowledge Transfer

Based on research on a serious game used for training purposes, this chapter aims to analyze knowledge transfer related to emotional labor between gaming and work situations. After defining emotional labor, it discusses issues related to the use of a serious game as mediation; whether or not it is accepted; and whether it contributes to the possibility of better regulating emotions. The results suggest that knowledge transfer, in and around work situations, is related more to the acceptance of mediation, including its debriefing, than to the playful attitude itself. Used by companies as entertainment in team‐building seminars, escape game has become a new type of serious escape game (SEG), and is starting to be used in training and recruitment schemes as well. The challenges embedded in the SEG are illustrated with concrete examples from authentic work situations.