Via: Muzzy Lane Blog – In 2013, Muzzy Lane Dials Serious Games to Eleven
In January 2003, Muzzy Lane was a year old. Beginning its eleventh year, Muzzy Lane is dialing Serious Games to eleven.
The company started with the bold idea that
games were a valuable tool for learning, and "Serious Games" -- for purposes other
than pure entertainment --could have a wide array of applications.
At the time the idea was met with skepticism
by many. A mere
decade later and Muzzy Lane’s vision of Serious Games lets students
experience being anything from civil engineers to marketing managers. The company’s latest game, Practice Government
in Action (find also Serious Games For Internalizing How Government Works), actually lets you be a member of the United
States Congress.
GinA is the second in a series
of subject-specific games that Muzzy Lane is developing for McGraw-Hill
Higher Education (please find also The Practice Series: Serious Games From McGraw Hill).
The first game, the award-winning Practice
Marketing (please find also Practice Marketing: Real World Multiplayer Serious Game), puts you in the role
of marketing manager at a backpack company.
GinA takes the
same approach, but for a subject that is critically important: government
studies. A large majority of students must take some kind of basic government
course, so GinA has the opportunity to affect a significant percentage
of college freshmen.
“It was important to us that we properly
simulate the various elements of government that students are required to learn
about”, says Chris Parsons from Muzzy Lane Software.
GinA has
already won several awards including the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Adaptive Force Award and a silver medal at the Serious Play
Conference.
Muzzy Lane expects that as more classes use the game in 2013 they will get more specific feedback about what students are excited about and what they are learning from playing the game.