There is increasing interest in using examination of behaviors during videogame play as measurements of human knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics. Such a shift reflects a growing... Show More

There is increasing interest in using examination of behaviors during videogame play as measurements of human knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics. Such a shift reflects a growing dissatisfaction with traditional assessment methods, like surveys, tests, and interviews. Game-based assessment addresses this dissatisfaction in three ways. First, test-taking motivation is likely to increase due to the motivating nature of well-designed games. Second, scores may be less contaminated in high-stakes contexts if games are perceived as less threatening than cognitive tests. Third, the validity of measurement may increase because gameplay is a behavioral outcome, whereas other approaches require respondents to engage in accurate self-reflection. Fortunately, the cost of game development has decreased to the point where it is now feasible for individual researchers to develop their own videogames or modify existing videogames in order to test these concepts. Rigorous experimental designs, large sample sizes, a multifaceted approach to validation, and in-depth statistical analyses are recommended, so that the assessment game literature meets the same standards as the validation literature at large, with the long-term goal of replacing many traditional assessments with game-based variations of equal psychometric strength. One day, perhaps “assessment” will be synonymous with “fun.”