A Good Procedural Rhetoric for Good Gaming Practice

In the wake of recent developments in the field of New Media Studies, Game Studies and Narratology, this essay aims to highlight some of principles useful to recognizing an educational simulation game when it is wellmade. Starting from the assumption that a game is a system based on rules and mechanics, and that their typology makes it more or less effective, more or less engaging and intense, more or less formative, the essay wants to analyze the principles related to content (narration) that are best suited to provide an appropriate simulation learning experience. For these reasons, the research analyzes of a selection of current educational Serious Games and compare their contents with the Procedural Rhetoric Theory (PRT) proposed by the game designer Bogost (2007). This theory identifies in the video game a system of rules and mechanics that is based on the rhetoric linguistic techniques of translated into a computational procedure. According to the PRT, games can exercise a good persuasion provided that the gameplay features a meaningful representation of this underlying procedure. To support these principles conceptually, the essay analyze also the pedagogical side of the contents and present some of the “36 Learning Principles” proposed by Gee (2007) will be used. This model proposes specific characteristics of each learning dimension and contributes to defines the principles of a wellmade learning experience. Considering the Serious Games analyzed through the lens of the PRT and the 36LP, the article aims to identify a series of rhetorical procedural principles relevant to the design of the educational content of a serious game.