Using Simva to evaluate serious games and collect game learning analytics data

The evaluation of serious games and the assessment of their players is commonly done with pre-post experiments: a questionnaire before the application and another questionnaire after the application to then compare their results. The tool Simva was designed to simplify the complexity of these experiments, reducing times in preparation and deployment and linking all the information gathered anonymously from each specific user. This information includes game learning analytics data which can provide further insight about players’ progress and results. On this paper, we present three experiences conducted in real settings using the different features of Simva to validate three serious games using prepost experiments and collect game learning analytics data of players’ in-game interactions. We conclude by summarizing the lessons learned from these experiences that could be used for further research on serious games evaluation and assessment of students playing.