Designing a large multi-player simulation game to encourage critical debate

There is great potential to design digital simulation games as part of professional training settings. However, there is little research on how a large group in a classroom or seminar can all play at the same time. In this paper we describe the design and first in-the-wild deployment of the 4Decades game, which involves up to 30 players simultaneously in a simulation of global climate economics. Using a network of shared devices and ambient displays, a fast-paced collaborative game enabled players to reflect on prior learning, strategy making and their critical understanding of the simulation. Keywords/Key Phrases: serious games; multi-player simulation; game design; field study;