A Method for Simulating Players in a Collaborative Multiplayer Serious Game

Multiplayer Serious Games are a promising concept to combine the features of Serious Games with the concept of collaborative learning. Multiplayer games, however, are hard to model, especially as interaction between players is often hard to predict. For the design of multiplayer Serious Games, especially considering adaptation algorithms for multiplayer Serious Games, exhaustive tests are desirable. As real players are often hard to obtain, simulation of players might be a solution. In this paper we propose an approach to simulate human player behavior in collaborative multiplayer Serious Games. Our approach considers behavior in terms of gaming (player model), learning (learner model), and collaboration and teamwork (interaction model). The aim of our model is to have a sound foundation of realistic player behavior as a basis for evaluation of adaptation mechanisms in collaborative multiplayer Serious Games. We implemented our approach as an extension of the collaborative multiplayer Serious Game 'Escape From Wilson Island' and carried out a first evaluation. The results are promising as they indicate that it is possible to soundly and reproducibly simulate player behavior based on a player model, player skills as well as on teamwork and communication.