Using Evaluation as a Quality Assurance Tool in the Development of Serious Games - A Case Study based on the PRIME Game

This paper describes how formal evaluation of learning outcomes is an important Quality Assurance (QA) tool in the development of serious games. The case study is based on the PRIME project, which aimed to develop a serious game for learning global strategic manufacturing. The paper discusses the benefits of implementing a formal evaluation for learning outcomes to validate the game, using the alpha prototype. The process allowed the identification of shortcomings and provided valuable feedback to the development activities of the serious game. In the particular case of PRIME, the QA process involved the evaluation within a classroom setting during a total of 6 weeks. Whilst the outcome of the evaluation methodology revealed interesting results, the most important was the rich data collated that contributed significantly towards the final version of the software.