ABSTRACT
Games designed to serve educational needs form a sort of foundation for the many ways we aim to do things with games. At the heart of most games, there is some form of learning and assessment. Many games, particularly digital games, are perpetual feedback systems that are continually assessing, reporting, and responding. Rubber-banding, or leveling the game’s experience so that amateur and pro can play together, is a very simple example of how games are often assessing player performance to create a better experience. There are many different ways to learn and discuss educational games. There are games that are designed to provide information, through repetition, exposure, or experience. One way to frame the design of games is to consider them as a kind of teacher. If games are considered complex feedback systems with input and output, then educational games can also be framed by these two types: input and output.
