At the same time, he has confirmed that the gap between the simulation models used by SimCity and real cities is getting smaller and smaller. Lobo has acknowledged a certain meaningfulness to SimCity’s use in didactic scenarios. Kafai and Burke have highlighted SimCity as a learning tool that allows instructional learning. Since then, SimCity has also been used in various didactic scenarios, as described in and proposed in. The character as a Geographical Information System has been equally emphasized and is also a conceptual basis of the didactic scenario presented here. It is similarly referred to as a game thematically linked to urban planning.
The use of SimCity for planning can also be expanded to specific planning disciplines such as water infrastructure. Its use as a planning tool has been discussed from the first release on. SimCity, initially released in 1989, is probably one of the best-known and most commercially successful simulation games and has established the genre of city builder games. Additionally, dedicated serious games often have to be created with a lot of effort, which is necessary in order to achieve the balance between fun, pedagogy and validity (i.e., being close to reality), as postulated by.
However, dedicated serious games usually show deficits with regard to gaming fun. Dedicated serious games, on the other hand, are better tuned to reach the learning goals intended. However, the majority of the didactic scenarios is being served by dedicated serious games. Together, these disadvantages lead to only a minority of the didactic scenarios being covered by commercial entertainment games at present. Rufat and Minassian stated that simulation games can be used to learn the implemented models, but that the player does not necessarily connect the implemented models to the reality. Rather, commercial entertainment games are optimized for entertainment purposes or they reflect the attitude of the developers. As a remedy, for example, Charsky and Mims suggested that students work out the differences between game and reality after the gaming session as part of the didactic scenario. Most of the simulation models implemented in commercial entertainment games do not correspond to real systems taught. One of the disadvantages is the frequent suboptimal orientation towards the learning goals (e.g., ). Commercial entertainment games are readily accessible and offer great gaming fun. Both alternatives show advantages and disadvantages. Accordingly, Figure 1 shows the time structure of the SimCity didactic scenario described in this article), it has to be decided whether to use a commercial entertainment game or a dedicated serious game. When choosing simulation games for didactic scenarios (the term didactic scenario in this article refers to the arrangement of teaching/learning activities, media and methods to achieve defined learning objectives in line with framework conditions such as time frames. Furthermore, the study revealed that game-based learning still faces challenges with being recognized by students as a serious learning activity. Nevertheless, the challenge of game aging should be actively addressed. Furthermore, this study indicates that even a technically complex and fast-moving medium such as a computer game can be used in a didactic scenario over a longer period with limited effort.
Furthermore, it could be argued that a regional scenario can be implemented by simple means and is perceived as motivating by the students. It could also be shown that the didactic scenario motivates the students and that SimCity also generates gaming fun. The results show that SimCity 4 can still serve as a platform for exciting learning scenarios more than 15 years after its initial release. The didactic scenario shows characteristics not described in this combination in the literature to date: (1) the moderated open, simultaneous and competitive play in groups, (2) the used regional planning scenario and (3) the long, regular period of application of more than 15 years. Students’ motivation, the didactic scenario and the perceived learning outcomes were examined with the help of a focus group discussion and questionnaires. Methodologically, a total of four events were observed. This article describes the use of SimCity in the university course Infrastructure Management, which has been in continuous operation since 2002. Simulation games offer a safe space to experiment with system models and provide learning experiences about interdependencies and thus, are considered to foster the development of a deeper understanding of systems.