A Framework to Design, Develop, and Evaluate Immersive and Collaborative Serious Games in Cultural Heritage

Video games and their design are complex in nature, given the variety of aspects and challenges to face and the different areas of expertise involved. Furthermore, serious games have an even tougher challenge, since the knowledge acquisition has the same importance and relevance as entertainment and pleasure for the players. Serious games in cultural heritage require additional effort to introduce immersivity and collaboration among players. This article introduces a framework, named FRACH, to conceive, design, and evaluate immersive and collaborative serious games in cultural heritage. In particular, FRACH provides a design framework with steps to follow during the whole process that is from the early design phase to the evaluation phase of a serious game. We assessed the efficacy of our framework, with a specific case study in cultural heritage, by implementing a section of a serious game named HippocraticaCivitasGame, where players were allowed to visit the thermae of the historical site of San Pietro a Corte and Palazzo Fruscione in the city of Salerno, Italy, and to solve a given puzzle. Results of the game evaluation showed that the game was effective in terms of knowledge acquisition, the participants enjoyed the game, were highly involved in the immersive experience, and, finally, positively rated the idea of using the game for educational learning in the field of cultural heritage.