{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T15:49:40Z","timestamp":1753890580465,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":95,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]],"date-time":"2024-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Comput. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Learning through gameplay is being increasingly adopted by educators, who integrate games into academic curricula to address complex subjects. \u201cExistential\u201d game design is recognised as a practice for personal growth, self-reflection, and therapy, though it has been underexplored in educational contexts. The research thus describes the creation and deployment of two game design assessments for a private higher-education institution in South Africa that allowed undergraduate students to explore various complex topics. The research utilized an action research approach with a pre-test\/post-test design for data collection, with results being explored using sentiment-based and thematic analysis. The findings reveal mixed responses from participants which highlighted the usefulness of the exercise but noted that the courses\u2019 focus on technical quality and a lack of adequate preparation hindered the experience, with adequate mentoring and developer support being suggested to improve it. Arts-based approaches to such educational interventions, with a focus on \u201cdeep\u201d games, critical play, and values-conscious design throughout the curriculum, are discussed as a potential solution. While game design remains a useful educational tool for engaging with complex societal issues, educators must increasingly ensure they prepare undergraduate students adequately for such creative exercises.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcomp.2024.1389563","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]],"date-time":"2024-09-23T06:54:17Z","timestamp":1727074457000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Negotiating artefacts: student game creation for education and introspection"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Adam","family":"Jerrett","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]]},"reference":[{"year":"2023","key":"ref1"},{"volume-title":"Serious games","year":"1970","author":"Abt","key":"ref2"},{"volume-title":"Fundamentals of game design","year":"2013","author":"Adams","key":"ref3"},{"year":"2011","author":"Altbach","key":"ref4"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3057921","article-title":"Designing for transformative play","volume":"24","author":"Back","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACM Trans. 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