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The Role of Metaphor in Serious Games Design: the BubbleMumble Case Study

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Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2021)

Abstract

Metaphors represent a powerful cognitive tool through which it is possible to facilitate the understanding of abstract concepts or concepts belonging to unfamiliar domains. In the field of Serious Games (SGs), metaphors connect the user’s previous experience in the game domain to the information load that is intended to be conveyed. This paper presents a prototype of a model for the design of SGs based on the extensive use of the concept of metaphor. As a case study, the design of the digital SG BubbleMumble is introduced. BubbleMumble is intended to convey the fundamental concepts behind the extracellular vesicle biogenesis and production processes exploiting metaphor-driven SG design.

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Acknowledgements

Funding: The authors acknowledge financial support from the VES4US project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 801338.

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Correspondence to Manuel Gentile .

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Allegra, M. et al. (2021). The Role of Metaphor in Serious Games Design: the BubbleMumble Case Study. In: de Rosa, F., Marfisi Schottman, I., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Bellotti, F., Dondio, P., Romero, M. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13134. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_19

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-92182-8

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