The Serious Game Abstract Model

When the game is created, the "InitializeStatesAlgorithm" is triggered in order all state variables to be initialized.

The players makes their choices for all pre-defined “PlayerChoiceVariable”s.

At some other point in time, the main algorithm (PlayerChoicetoWorldState Algorithm) is triggered. All necessary static information (i.e., PlayerChoicesVariables, ExternaData, RandomNumberGenerators, ConfigurationData) is retrieved and used for the execution of the algorithm that calculates State elements (“PlayerStateVariables” and “WorldStateVariables”). PlayerStateVariables are attached to a player but are not directly affected by him. They represent the state of a player and can be affected by his or some or all players’ actions. WorldStateVariables are attached to the whole game and gain can be affected by some or all players’ actions.

The ConfigurationData parameters are defined for a game and are actually constants. In a stock market game it could be the initial stock values.

The ExternaData facility is designed to provide parameter values through a web service. For example a stock market game could use a stock market REST services to get real stock prices and calculate player gain or losses.

RandomNumberGenerators provide the flexibility of defining custom random number generators that are not present in the javascript language. For example one could write his own normal distribution generator.