Designing games to motivate student cohorts through targeted game genre selection

The objective of this chapter is to develop guidelines for targeted use of games in educational settings by presenting a typology of learning styles, motivations, game genres, and learning outcomes within disciplinary student cohorts. By identifying which academic outcomes best align with the motivations and learning styles of students and which game genres are best suited to those motivations and outcomes, the authors elucidate a typology to assist serious game designers’ and educators’ pursuits of games that both engage and instruct. The result will guide the implementation of games in the classroom by linking game genre and game mechanics with learning objectives, and therefore enhance learning and maximise education outcomes through targeted activity.