Le serious game fonctionne-t-il en remote ?

Yes, but under conditions. Pure serious digital games obviously work remotely. Serious physical games can be adapted via home-based kits combined with visual animation. It is more logistically binding but often highly appreciated - the arrival of a physical kit at the home of the remote collaborator is a positive event in itself. Several of our customers use this mode for distributed team onboardings.

Pillar guide14 minutes of readingLudopedagogy

Serious game: definition, types, ROI and concrete examples

Q: What is the average ROI of a serious game?

The average ROI does not exist, because it depends entirely on the periodicity observed. On Level 1 of Kirkpatrick (satisfaction), serious games achieve almost systematically very good scores - it is the easiest and least discriminating level. On Level 2 (learning), the meta-analyses show a robust positive effect compared to the classical passive education. On Level 3 (behavioral transfer), the results are more contrasting and depend on the accompanying device (briefing, implementation, follow-up). On Level 4 (business impact), only the very integrated and long-tracked devices deliver a credible measure.

Q: How long does it take for a serious game to be designed?

For a serious physical game (plateau, maps) of average difficulty, count several months between the initial framing workshop, prototyping, user testing, iterations and final production. For a serious, sophisticated digital game, the delay can lengthen considerably depending on the graphic ambition and technical integration. The classic piece: underestimate the time of testing and operation. A poorly tested game is an unfinished game.

Q: Do you need a special editor to produce a serious game?

This depends on the level of autonomy of the organization. A company that has an experienced training service can lead the project by working directly with a manufacturer such as Imprim'ton jeu and an independent game designer. An organization that discovers the subject wins to mobilize an integrated editor who takes the totality of the design-production-deployment-debriefing cycle. The surcot of an integrated editor is justified by the security of the final result.

Q: Does serious game replace classical training?

Rarely, and so much the better. Serious game excels on engagement, situationalization, memory through experience. It is less effective in transmitting a large volume of factual or normative content. Good use is almost always hybrid: provideo calln of classical content (in person, e-learning or reading) followed by a serious game that anchors, puts in place and reveals areas of fragility. Post-game debriefing is the step that transforms experience into learning.

Q: How to evaluate memory at 30 days after a serious game?

Three additional tools. The quiz runs by email with about ten questions on key points (measures the reporting retention). Field observation: Did the behaviors change on the topics dealt with (measurement of transfer). Semi-directive interview on a sample of participants: ability to reformulate, link, transpose to a new case (measurement of deep appropriation). The three cumulations give a rised reading. The quiz only flatters the numbers without guaranteeing the real.

The serious game is an older and more precise object than we think - it has an academic definition, a structured typology and a rigorous evaluation framework. This guide brings together the definition, categories, evaluation models, French usage cases, the modes of framing and the limits of the device. To those responsible for training, HR and communication who want to decide with knowledge of the matter.

By Killian Costa, production manager at Craft Your Games · May 21, 2026 · Updated on May 21, 2026

A compliance manager at a banking actor approached us about an unexpected project: "My staff hate the anti-money-laundering training. The mandatory e-learning is endured. I'd like a serious game." First question we asked her: "What exactly do you expect from the game?" She hesitated. "For them to have fun." We replied: "If you only want them to have fun, take a commercial escape game. If you want them to retain and apply the rules, that's another project, and the design changes radically." This confusion is the most common one on the market. This guide clears it up.

The serious game has become a term suitcase over the last fifteen years. Everyone invokes it, few agree on its perimeter. Yet, the concept has an academic history, a stable definition and a useful typology. Mastering it allows you to better buy, better brief a manufacturer like us, and above all to better evaluate the result.

Academic definition of serious game

The term "serious game" appears in 1970 in the book Serious Games The definition of serious games is as follows: "The serious games have an explicit and carefully thought-out educational purpose; they are not intended to be played for fun alone." Abt then worked on political and social simulations for university training.

The concept remains confidential until the late 1990s, when it resurfaces with the rise of the mainstream video game. America's Army In 2008, Ben Sawyer and Peter Smith proposed a new, more comprehensive, and more comprehensive, strategy for the development of the Canadian economy. typology in six cross-categories with seven sectors which becomes the academic reference. See our glossary page on serious game for short definition.

The operative definition we use in production is as follows: a serious game is a complete gamified device, that is to say a game in the classic sense of the term, with rules, objectives, mechanics, victory conditions, designed to produce an effect beyond entertainment. This effect can be learning, awareness, simulation of a complex situation, hypothesis testing, skills assessment, or collective coordination.

Differences serious game / gamification / education / simulation

Four neighbouring concepts often merge, so let's clearly distinguish them.

The serious game is a complete game with useful purpose. The player enters a structured play experience.

There gamification adds game mechanics to an activity that remains non-ludic. The worker does not enter a game: he does his job, and receives points and badges along the way.

L'education is an educational content presented in an entertaining way (animated educational videos, playful infographics). No game mechanics: it remains a content, not an interaction.

Simulation faithfully reproduces a real system to allow learning through practice (flight simulator, surgical simulator). Loyalty takes precedence over the playful dimension. A simulation can be a serious game if it is designed with a game dimension, but many are not.

These distinctions are not pedicrous: they determine what you buy, what you measure and what you expect. Confondre serious game and simulation leads to demand unnecessary technical fidelity. Confondre serious game and gameification leads to stacking badges on an e-learning without designing a game.

The 6 categories of serious game (Sawyer & Smith typology)

The Sawyer & Smith 2008 typology crosses six goal categories with seven sectors. Here are the six categories.

1. Advangaming. Game designed for communication or marketing purposes for a brand. The content of the game serves the positioning of the brand or the promotion of products. Very used by mainstream advertisers; in B2B, often serves the employer brand.

2. Edugame (educational game). Game designed to transmit knowledge, skills or behaviours. This is the most mobilized category in vocational training - ours. See also our article how to create a serious game for your business.

3. Simulation game. A game that faithfully reproduces a system (economic, political, industrial, medical) to allow experimentation. Management schools use these devices massively.

4. Awareness game. Game designed to raise awareness of a cause, a risk, a social problem. diversity awareness-inclusionprevention, environmental education are largely based on this category.

5. Social and political play. A game that illuminates or influences a public debate, a democratic process, a social dynamic. Used by communities, NGOs, media.

6. Health game. A game designed for rehabilitation, health prevention, patient care. A category that has exploded for ten years with the digital health, but also includes very effective analog devices. See medical game training.

Serious game digital vs serious game physical

For a long time, "serious game" has been synonymous with video game. Digital has brought the growth of the market through scale distribution, rich interactivity and integrated measurement possibilities. But the serious physical game - tray, cards, playbook - remains an incomparable tool in many configurations.

The digital serious game excels when: the audience is geographically dispersed, content is massive and standardised, granular individual measurement is important, frequent updating is necessary. The physical serious game excels when: social cohesion is an explicit goal, group debriefing is central, monopolised attention is critical, memorisation through tactile experience prevails, multi-year lifespan is desired.

Our observation after hundreds of projects: the majority of organizations underinvest in serious physical game because they assimilate serious game to digital. It is a mistake to position. personalized board game company well designed, with a lifespan of five to ten years, produces a cost of use often less than an equivalent digital device. See our guide cost structure of a custom game.

A third way also emerges: the serious hybrid game, which combines physical support and digital layer (QR codes on cards, companion application, animation dashboard).This modality reconciles the virtues of social and tactile (physical side) with measurement and dissemination (digital side). QR and NFC connected games for available technical architectures, and digital and hybrid onboarding game For an example of RH use. Serious hybrid game does not replace pure digital or pure physics: it complements them when the stakes impose both dimensions.

A final consideration concerns the rhythm of use. A digital serious game is consumed in short individual sessions, spread over time. A physical serious game is consumed in long collective sessions, concentrated. This difference in rhythm conditions the type of learning made possible: one favours spaced repetition and passive memorisation, the other favours intense immersion and memorisation through experience. Depending on the educational objective, one is more effective than the other: rarely both at once.

A serious game is not an e-learning disguised as a game. It is a game first, useful then. The order of words counts more than one thinks.

Evaluation models: Kirkpatrick 4 levels applied to serious game

Donald Kirkpatrick's model, formulated in the 1950s and refined since then, remains the benchmark for evaluating a training action. The four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour, results. Applied to serious game, it gives a useful operating framework. Our dedicated article ROI Gamified Formation: Kirkpatrick details the methodology; here is the synthesis.

Level 1 - Reaction. Measuring immediate satisfaction. Hot questionnaire: perceived quality of experience, recommendation, sense of relevance. Easy, low-discriminatory level. All serious well-designed games get very good scores.

Level 2 - Learning. Measuring the acquisition of knowledge or skills. Before/after quiz, timed situation. Discriminant: a serious game weak is revealed here, a serious game strong shows a net retention compared to a control group that has followed the content in a classic form.

Level 3 - Behaviour. Measurement of transfer to the field. Observation of practices a few weeks after the session, interviews, case analysis. The level demanding and costly to measure; yet it is the only one that really matters for operational subjects (security, sales, compliance).

Level 4 - Results. Business impact measurement. Evolution of business indicators over time. Very difficult to isolate properly from all other factors. Only for large deployments documented over several months.

5 cases of use in French company

The five most serious game-driven subjects in contemporary French business.

Cybersecurity. High growth subject with sophistication of attacks and NIS2 regulation. serious cybersecurity games raise awareness of phishing, password management, risk behaviours. See also cybersecurity awareness game.

Compliance (GDPR, anti-corruption, bank compliance). The historical domain of the e-learning experience. The serious game finds its ideal playground: turning the "click-through" into a path involving. GDPR compliance game.

Occupational Safety (HSE). Industry, construction, transport. The fun devices allow to review gestures and postures without overloading the team. workplace safety corporate game And game training industry HSE.

Onboarding. Concentrated cohort, dense content, critical social dimension: the serious physical game shines especially here. See HR onboarding game.

Sales training. Arguments, objection management, negotiation, structured role-play. Competition between commercial teams lends itself well to game mechanics. See sales training game.

Note that these same formats can be adapted to private contexts - to host a family reunion, to organize a theme anniversary, to pass on values to relatives at an event. More details on our page contact.

How to frame a serious game project

A successful project is widely played in the first weeks. Four steps structure a solid framing.

Briefing. Define the unique objective of the game (learning, awareness, simulation), the target audience (staff, profile, context), constraints (session duration, presentational or distancial modality, budget), indicators of success. board game specifications.

Selecting the support. The choice depends on the expected lifespan, the context of use, the budget, the public. See physical game vs e-learning.

Design. Definition of game mechanics, writing rules, rapid prototyping. The first prototypes must be deliberately raw (cut-out paper, post-it, markers) - the stake is to test the mechanics, not the aesthetics. game prototype manufacturing.

Test and iteration. Test sessions on a target audience. Observe, adjust, retest. The business rule: no game comes out of production without having spent at least three cycles of test-iteration. See our prototype test guide.

When the serious game doesn't work

Serious game is not a universal remedy, four situations where it almost fails systematically.

Too dry subjects without a playful angle. Some subjects (dense regulatory texts, hyper-technical procedures without any variation) are not suitable for playful transposition. Force a game on this type of content produces an artificial device that learners immediately feel.

Conflict or tension teams. The game mobilizes dimensions of competition, cooperation, individual exposure. A team in strong tension is not in a position to play; the device risks aggravating the fractures. The business rule: do not deploy a serious competitive game on a team in crisis.

No structured debriefing. A serious game without debriefing produces an experience but not an apprenticeship. Debriefing is the stage that transforms what has been experienced into what will be retained. post-game debriefing: method for managers details the posture and steps.

Lack of shared objective upstream. A serious game deployed to "facilitate a bit" without a specific goal produces entertainment, not value. educational game vs animation game If the objective is animation, take it on and choose a light format. If the objective is learning, invest seriously in framing.

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Sources and references

INSEE — French games & toys market studies 2025
European standard EN71 — toy safety (EN71-1 mechanical, EN71-2 flammability, EN71-3 chemical)
FFJP — French federation of toy and childcare industries
AFNOR — responsible paper labels PEFC and FSC
Bpifrance study — SMEs and B2B purchasing 2026

If you are planning a serious physical game - tray, cards, booklet - for training, onboarding, awareness or an employer branding device, we design and manufacture in the EU, decomposed estimate by post. Return within 48 hours.

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Questions frequent

What is the average ROI of a serious game?

There's no such thing as an average ROI, because it depends entirely on the scope observed. At Kirkpatrick level 1 (satisfaction), serious games almost systematically achieve very good scores: it's the easiest and least discriminating level. At level 2 (learning), meta-analyses show a robust positive effect compared to classic passive teaching. At level 3 (behavioural transfer), results are more mixed and depend on the support framework (debriefing, practice, follow-up). At level 4 (business impact), only very integrated and long-tracked programmes deliver a credible measurement.

How long does it take for a serious game to be designed?

For a medium-difficulty physical serious game (board, cards), allow several months between initial scoping workshop, prototyping, user tests, iterations and final production. For a sophisticated digital serious game, the lead time can lengthen considerably depending on graphic ambition and technical integration. Classic pitfall: underestimating the time of testing and iteration. A poorly tested game is an unfinished game.

Does it take a specialized publisher to produce a serious game?

This depends on the level of autonomy of the organization (more about our see the publisher's guide) A company with an experienced training service can manage the project by working directly with a manufacturer like Craft Your Games and an independent game designer. An organization that discovers the subject is gaining the ability to mobilise an integrated publisher who takes the entire design-production-deployment-debriefing cycle. The additional cost of an integrated publisher is justified by the security of the final result.

Can we make a serious game for only 10 people?

Yes, and it's even an excellent target. Small workforces allow a device rich in interactions, in-depth debriefing, and animation quality that large cohorts never permit. The constraint is economic: fixed design costs don't amortise over 10 units like they do over 100. The solution: choose a light physical format (cards, modular board) rather than heavy digital development, and consider reuse across several sessions.

Does serious game replace classical training?

Rarely, and that's a good thing. The serious game excels at engagement, putting people in situations, memorisation through experience. It's less effective for conveying a large volume of factual or normative content. The good use is almost always hybrid: classic content delivery (in person, e-learning or reading) followed by a serious game that anchors, contextualises and reveals areas of weakness. The post-game debrief is the step that transforms experience into learning.

How to evaluate memory at 30 days after a serious game?

Three complementary tools. The short quiz sent by email with around ten questions on key points (measures declarative retention). Field observation: have behaviours changed on the topics covered (transfer measurement). The semi-directive interview on a sample of participants: ability to reformulate, link, transpose to a new case (deep appropriation measurement). The three combined give an honest reading. The quiz alone flatters numbers without guaranteeing reality.

Does the serious game work remotely?

Yes but under conditions. Pure digital serious games obviously work remotely. Physical serious games can be adapted via kits sent home combined with video animation. It's more logistically demanding but often highly appreciated: the arrival of a physical kit at the remote employee's home is a positive event in itself. Several of our clients use this modality for onboarding distributed teams.