M. Kurosu (Ed.): Human-Computer Interaction, Part II, HCII 2013, LNCS 8005, pp. 299–308, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Designing Serious Videogames through Concept Maps Jaime Sánchez and Matías Espinoza Department of Computer Science, Center for Advanced Research in Education (CARE), University of Chile, Blanco Encalada 2120, Santiago, Chile {jsanchez,maespino}@dcc.uchile.cl Abstract. The purpose of this study was to present and evaluate a new tech- nique through the use of concept maps for the design of serious videogames using Ejemovil Editor. This was accomplished by using a method to easily transform concept maps into directed graphs, which are then used to generate the videogame sequence and the interdependencies between the various ele- ments. With this tool teachers are able to define the storyline of the videogame, incorporating the concepts that they want to teach in a structured way. To these ends, an editor was created using this methodology that allows for the construc- tion of mobile videogames. Teachers that currently use concept maps have eva- luated the proposed methodology. Preliminary results show that the proposed methodology for the design and creation of serious videogames for education is appropriate, easy to use, generally accepted and understandable for the end users. Keywords: Concept Maps, Serious Videogames, Videogames Editor, Video- games Design. 1 Introduction In the last decades, two technologies have entered the classroom in support of learn- ing. The first are concept maps, which were created by Novak in 1972 and which are used to support meaningful learning [5]. The second technology is the videogame industry, which paradoxically began with Pong in the same year, and which has evolved to become a billion dollar industry [10]. Currently, the development of educational, mobile videogames is limited to the category of trivia games [8]. Several experiences [8][9] have used such devices to take advantage of their potential for using specific messaging services. Mobile Author [15] is an application that aids teachers in creating and maintaining their educational resources on a virtual platform. Some experiences with this application have devel- oped RPG videogame editors, such as RPGMaker [11], which is designed for amateur users. Although this editor provides a great deal of freedom regarding the ability to create videogames, it is not oriented towards the development of videogames in an educational context.