Maryland Budget Game

The Maryland Budget Game allows users to develop their own proposals for balancing the state budget. The game presents different budget options in a range of policy areas, along with background information and factors to consider.

Type of content: Assets
Type of asset:
Use case
Data source
Big data potential
No
Policy domains: Economy & Finance
Phase in the policy cycle:
Agenda Setting
Open license availability
No
Ease of use
High
Tags: Citizen-centred policy-making
Addresses:
SWOT Analysis for
Maryland Budget Game
Helpful Harmful
Internal
Strengths• Allows users to develop their own proposals for balancing the state budget.
• The game presents different budget options in a range of policy areas, along with background information and factors to consider.
• Players train in decision-making process.
• Better learning experience -Instant feedback. Since gamification provides metrics it can be easily seen, as trainer, how a participant is progressing.
• Learning experience is personalized; the learners could evolve in their own rhythm, in a safe way. Gratification system provides an effective, informal learning environment that helps learners practice real life situations and challenges.
Weaknesses• Applies only to young people and people familiar with technology
• Internet connections needed.

External
Opportunities• Games can reach and impact far more individuals than a typical classroom intervention. The ability to tap into the masses makes games ideal for content areas related to large-scale social phenomena such as globalization, economics, environmental science, social media, and social innovation
• Instant feedback. Since gamification provides metrics it can be easily seen, as trainer, how a participant is progressing.
• Push of Videogame Industry: The success of gamification is also driven by the recent growth in the gaming industry and the mass appeal that videogames have in the entertainment arena.
• Increasing interest of the academic world: Gamification is receiving an increasing attention by the academic world. Researches aimed at investigating the effects of game elements on users are more and more
Threats• Simplification and limitation of the game elements employed: Some designers believe that limiting its perspective to the use of points, badges and leader boards is the main problem of gamification.
• One size fits all: The spreading of third-part services on the one hand has promoted the adoption of gamification, on the other hand has highlighted the problem of the one size-fits-all approach currently applied to many gamification interventions. This design technique is lacking originality not only for the scarce variety of the elements commonly employed, but also for a perspective that is inclined to consider different contexts and different users in the same way.
• Side effects: many researches highlighted that different forms of extrinsic rewards could determine in specific contexts, a detrimental effect on the users’ intrinsic motivation

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