Regulation crash-test: applying serious games to policy design

Abstract

Successful policy solutions rely on policy addressees responding in certain ways. Policy designers need an analytical method that allows them to anticipate impact of a new intervention, while taking into account bounded rationality of policy actors and sociopolitical complexity. The article proposes using serious games at the stage of policy formulation to test the architecture of a new regulation in a safe environment. It provides a blueprint for using games in policy design, consisting of conceptual framework, design procedure, and techniques for strengthening game validity. The application is illustrated with an example of a draft regulation on rural transport in Poland. The case study points out three advantages of game method: (1) revealing mechanisms triggered by the architecture of regulation, meaning actors' initial assumptions, decisions, and feedback loops created by actors' responses, (2) demonstrating the consequences of mechanisms over time, that in real life would occur with a long delay, and (3) creating a risk-free environment where policy actors can verify their assumptions and experiment with ways of interpreting and responding to new regulation. The article concludes that serious games are a promising method for anticipating impact of complex policy regulation.

Serious games for evaluation

“…Another example is the Kościerzyna rural transportation game (Olejniczak et al, 2018). It was created to evaluate, ex ante, a new law drafted by the Polish government in response to the decline of the Polish rural bus transport market and the decreasing accessibility to buses for residents in rural areas.…”

“…Designing serious games, or adapting existing games to policy purposes, is highly iterative, with several loops focused on confronting ideas in a team and with future users. Designers jump between exploratory research and the action of design, and between details of reality and abstraction (Olejniczak et al, 2018).…”

Advancing Evaluation Practice With Serious Games

“…Experience with the rural transport regulation game demonstrates how we can use games for ex ante evaluation of proposed complex laws and regulations to inform decision makers. In this case, the Polish national government was the game principal (Olejniczak et al, 2018). In 2017, the Polish government began drafting a new law to respond to the decline of the Polish rural bus transport market and the decreasing accessibility of residents in rural areas to buses.…”

Let the Game Begin: Enhancing Sustainable Collaboration among Actors in Innovation Ecosystems in a Playful Way

“…According to Olejniczak et al [38], the use of serious games by policy makers is a very promising approach in estimating the impact of new complex policies and regulations, due to the fact that they comprise the following strengths:…”