Abstract

Practice Marketing is a multiplayer business strategy game that teaches introductory marketing principles to university students. Built by Muzzy Lane Software and distributed by McGraw-Hill Education, the game allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps,” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. Over multiple turns in the game, players research the preferences of potential buyers, design a product to sell, analyze how their products and those of competitors compare, and make decisions on how to improve their sales for the next turns. We introduce the core game elements of Practice Marketing, including the game structure, assessment and feedback elements, learner interaction methods, and the elements of immersion. We present an analysis of the design and discuss how the game’s elements allow its learning objectives to be met.

Context

Practice Marketing by Muzzy Lane Software is a 3-D, turn-based multiplayer business strategy game. It is built on Muzzy Lane’s Sandstone platform for 3-D browser-based games. The game is available through McGraw-Hill Education as part of a series of educational learning games (McGraw-Hill Education, n.d .). The intended users of the game are university students who are taking a course in, or interested in learning about, introductory marketing principles. To that end, the game provides a business simulation that allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. The game teaches learners that the key to marketing success is to have a strategically aligned marketing plan based on a thorough understanding of the different possible options for each of the 4 Ps and their potential impact on business outcomes. After playing the game, learners should have a better understanding of the 4 Ps of marketing and how they interrelate.