A Strategy For Analyzing Digital Epistemic Games

In this chapter we will present a strategy for how to analyze digital epistemic games. Digital epistemic games are computer-based games that mediate mental, intellectual, knowledge-oriented activities. Mediate here suggests support, facilitate, transform, and enhance. Epistemic games can be used to improve players' problem solving, planning, information analysis, reasoning, critical thinking, and learning. Such games contain one or more cognitive tasks that players need to perform in order to advance or complete the game. Each game can be categorized and analyzed according to these underlying cognitive tasks. Some examples of cognitive tasks include the rearrangement of shapes, the linking of objects and ideas, the finding of paths through mazelike structures, and the matching of features and parts.Traditionally, digital games have been categorized according to broad genres such as adventure, board, card, combat, educational, puzzle, strategy, and role-playing games. These genres categorize games based on their overall gameplay. As such, genres are intended to provide a prospective user with a general idea of what the gameplay experience will involve. Unfortunately, this type of taxonomy does not hint at the underlying cognitive tasks of the game.Oftentimes, educators may want to use digital games to engage learners with certain cognitive tasks and to help them with the understanding of these tasks. Not knowing about the core structures of a game can therefore be troublesome. To address this problem, in this chapter we will analyze a number of existing games and categorize them according to their cognitive tasks. This analysis will help to display what educational and epistemic purposes these digital epistemic games can serve. As digital games continue to grow in popularity, it is important to know how to analyze games that serve the mind.