Serious games design: reflections from an experience in the field of intangible cultural heritage education

This paper tackles the issue of Serious Games design by drawing on the experience conducted in the framework of the i-Treasures project, which deals with the preservation and transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). In i-Treasures a collection of Serious Games has been developed addressing four relevant ICH areas: singing, dancing, craftsmanship and music composition. So far one game for each of the four areas has been developed; the ultimate aim of the games is making learning and transmission of specific ICH expressions (namely Tsamiko dance, human beat box, pottery, contemporary music composition) more motivating, engaging and, ultimately, effective. Starting from the concept of pedagogy-driven game design, the main pedagogical choices adopted are outlined. Further considerations on the overall design process are also proposed by focusing, in particular, on the need for engaging in a collaborative work a variety of professionals (in the case partners of the project) with different expertise, skills and background.