Game Science or Games and Science? Towards an Epistemological Understanding of Use of Games in Scientific Fields

Recent years have seen a tidal wave of interest in the use of computer games in fields as diverse as urban planning, health, education and business studies. Despite the reported success in the use of games for pedagogy and communication purposes, the lack of critical understanding of games as a medium, their capabilities and limitations, the sorts of knowledge they produce and the types of data they can deal with has led to the limited use of games in scientific fields. In this study by conceptualizing games as artifacts with embedded information systems, a better recognition of artistic values of games is called for. It is explained how understanding the various ways in which data flow happens between the real world and the imaginary world can help us better situate games within scientific fields.