Balancing Realism and Engagement for a Serious Game in the Domain of Remote Sensing

This paper elaborates on the development of a serious game in the domain of remote sensing. It describes the challenges of defining the target group and keeping them motivated over several weeks in order to achieve specific learning objectives. Furthermore, the paper states the integration of the game into the pedagogical concept. The paper illustrates in detail how the balance was found between realistic learning objectives and engaging gameplay following the ideas of Immersive Didactics and Digital Game-Based learning. It depicts on how to find close correlation between learning objectives and game objectives while keeping engagement and immersion. In addition, the paper outlines the support for educators and trainers via the implemented editors. Finally, the paper will report about the current evaluation of the game's learning outcome and user experience.