Abstract
The current socio-ecological challenges and phenomena that are major topics of geography education, like climate change and migration, are highly complex. Maturity in these contexts requires a networked way of thinking, and a systemic competence that is difficult to develop in geography classes alone. Digital games that simulate complex systems which include the pressing issues of today’s challenges may be a useful supplement to foster systems thinking. In this study, we develop a framework to assess the complexity of in-game systems. A subsequent analysis of a selection of current commercial strategy and simulation games shows how system complexity is designed differently in the various games. Based on these results, we make recommendations for the selection and use of different games in formal and informal learning contexts.
Highlights
The challenges in today’s society are complex
We developed the following model on the basis of the presented theoretical works about geographical systems and system thinking/competence ([30,31,33,34] amongst others) by applying the concepts they present to video games, while taking the specific characteristics of the medium into account
To identify actors within the game system, we looked at the non-player characters (NPCs) of the games, grouped them by categories determined by the games and identified their appearance in each game
Summary
The challenges in today’s society are complex. Dealing with global phenomena, such as climate change, migration, and the reasonable handling of resources or problems associated with city development, requires an understanding of the underlying systems with consideration of all their elements, interrelations, and dynamics. As a basis to foster maturity in these fields, a competence in analyzing the dimensions of complex systems and including them into problem-solving strategies needs to be developed, known as ‘system competence’. System competence can be defined as the ability to identify, comprehend, describe and model a complex part of reality as a system regarding its organization and behavior, and to base predictions, as well as measures for regulation and usage of the system on this cognition [1,2]. The way of thinking required from systemically competent people is termed ‘system(s) thinking’. This understanding of complex systems is gaining an increasing amount of attention, such as through the efforts to implement the Sustainable Development
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