Serious games in support of transformative multi-stakeholder sanitation planning for increased resource recovery: Specifications for game development

Report, 2021

Globally, 2.3 billion people lack sanitation. Innovative solutions are needed that allow for rapid service expansion to underserved populations. Serious games can bring new perspectives into rigid planning and decision-making by increasing the understanding of complex issues, supporting learning of alternative perspectives and enhancing stakeholders cooperation. Existing games are inadequate for addressing the sanitation challenge and current frameworks for game development are neither comprehensive, nor tailored to sanitation planning. The objectives of this report are a) to develop a generic framework for development of serious games supporting transformative planning and governance; and b) to develop a set of specifications for a serious game for transformative sanitation planning specifically, c) to present a sanitation planning game prototype, and d) to report on an assessment of this game prototype. The report is based on literature studies and prototyping with user tests. A comprehensive framework for game development is presented and specifications for a serious game in sanitation planning are described. Initial game prototyping found that not all specifications could be fulfilled. Yet, focusing the framework on the serious purpose of the game, its worldview, its content, and its context of use brought a different but useful logic into the game design process.