1 How insights into entertainment games can improve the design of educational games on complex societal problems André Czauderna 1 , Emmanuel Guardiola 1 , Joelle-Denise Lux 2 and Alexandra Budke 2 1 Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln, Germany 2 Institute for Geography Education, University of Cologne, Germany ac@colognegamelab.de eg@colognegamelab.de jlux2@uni-koeln.de alexandra.budke@uni-koeln.de This is the author’s version. The final version is published in: Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Games Based Learning: ECGBL 2021, Academic Conferences and Publishing International, pp. 170-177 (DOI: 10.34190/GBL.21.119). Abstract: Many educational games have been criticized for their lack of enticement to players, which is attributed, among other factors, to a low degree of complexity and a limited amount of choices, when compared to entertainment games (Sanford et al., 2015). From the perspective of learning theory, this is insofar problematic as successful processes of learning require player motivation, great agency, and a well- balanced level of complexity, which correspondents and adapts to players’ knowledge and skills (Gee, 2007). We thus assume that educational game design can learn from entertainment games, i.e., must look at them in order to improve educational games when it comes to their allure, their simulation/moderation of complexity, and their enabling of meaningful choices. With this in mind, we conducted a series of studies on commercially successful and critically acclaimed simulation and strategy games such as Cities: Skylines, Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, and Tropico 6 referring to the topics of climate change, urban planning, migration, and/or resource management – from the perspective of geography education. Our research focused on different aspects such as the games’ realism, complexity, geographical topics, facilitation of decision-making, and principles of political education, utilizing 18 game analyses and 8 qualitative interviews with game designers of these games. Based on the results of these studies, the present paper derives seven recommendations for the design of games on complex societal problems that can be used for educational purposes in geography education. Overall, the paper contributes to the greater effort to bridge the gap between entertainment game design and educational game design, thereby facilitating the creation of games that are both motivational and educational. Keywords: complex problems, educational games, game design, qualitative methods, strategy games 1. Introduction It is no secret that not all educational games live up to their expectations. A lot of them have been, for instance, criticized for their lack of enticement, which can be attributed, among other things, to a low degree of complexity and a limited number of choices, when compared to entertainment games. This criticism is not only formulated by academics, professionals, and critics, but also by players themselves who directly compare educational games to those commercial games they play in their leisure time. Sanford et al. (2015) asked a group of young people to play and analyze the serious game Ayiti: The Cost of Life. The authors report that the participants of their qualitative study perceived a lack of immersion in comparison to mainstream games. The participants themselves explained their issues with the game by (1) a relatively short playing time that does not support engagement, (2) a low level of realism, and (3) limitations in terms of complex problem-solving. All of those deficits hinder engaged and deep learning processes. Consequently, the authors conclude that “serious game designers need to pay attention to the perceptions, experiences, and expectations of gamers” (ibid, 103). At the same time, these results suggest to carefully study the design of commercial games directly as well as to consult their game designers as experts. The idea to learn from entertainment games for the design of educational games is not new. It has been already formulated by James Paul Gee in the early 2000s when he argued that ‘‘good commercial games are based on good theories of learning’’ (Gee, 2005, 2) and “are already state of the art learning games” (ibid, 1). The present paper follows this tradition of research – with a particular genre and subject area in mind. It focuses on simulation and strategy games with relevance for geography education which allow their players/learners to engage with complex societal issues such as climate change or migration. In this context,