ABSTRACT
Much of the literature on computerized simulation and game design has focused on the role of simulations and games as educational instruments. Whilst meeting educational objectives is clearly a major reason for using simulation-games, in many instances the motivation behind their use is not only as a means of meeting pedagogic objectives but also to facilitate group dynamics and communication, both within groups and between tutor and participants. This chapter attempts to provide a different focus on simulation-game design by approaching it from the perspective of designing both a communication process as well as an educational one. The result of taking such an approach is that the theoretical underpinning is extended to incorporate a broader field of academic study and identifies a range of issues which need to be addressed at the planning, encoding, delivery and feedback stages of simulation-game design.
