Serious games have great potential as they allow people to acquire knowledge and skills as they play. Serious games include board and card games, as well as video games. In particular, video games (or games based on Virtual Reality) provides opportunities that traditional methods cannot offer, e.g., simulations that immerse the player into different situations, or incorporating social aspects such as interpersonal skills.

Although the importance of serious games has been recognized, there is not yet a systematic methodology or general accepted principles to design and develop this kind of applications. It is WISE's goal to perform research in this context and develop design and development methods for serious games.