The Uses of Games That Transcend the Play and Mediate Learning

Abstract

The digital games market is around 109 billion dollars. In this scenario, games as tools for mental and educational stimulation have been highlighted. They allow the connection between friends, the narrowing of family ties, artistic expression, improvement of aspects related to health, institute mechanisms for business and advertising, as well as constitute opportunities for differentiated training and simulations. Such artifacts are also mediators for building knowledge, as well as developing or exercising skills and attitudes, since they involve the flow state. For this it is necessary to make use of adaptability that in the educational scope allows the personalization of the experience to extend the immersion and fun. The present chapter presents a review to subsidize the expansion of the mapping of games' uses developed by Klopfer, Osterweil, and Salen, as well as to establish their relation with the deliberate practice to institute immersive and meaningful educational proposals.