TY  - Type of reference 
TI  - At least 2800 years of history and innovation in serious games and other serious play activities 
AU  - Stéphane Goria 
AB  - Serious games as artifacts and serious play activities go back a long way. In the introduction to this issue of Technology & Innovation, we’d like to take a look at the history of playful practices and devices used for serious purposes. The history of these games can be dated back to early man, or to the first jacks (knucklebones) and dices found in archaeological excavations. But in written terms, it’s from the 5th century B.C. onwards that the first references to games in a utilitarian context appear. Quickly identified for some of its teaching qualities for children, or for adults by metaphor, it was also diverted to less praiseworthy ends such as betting, the staging of power or the manipulation of crowds. While these practices did not disappear over the centuries, they were more discreet until the year 1000, when they began to take on a new lease of life. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that new edutainment activities appeared. Children’s games and military games were the focus of numerous experiments. With wargames, military games were also used to test ideas. Next came business and health games, which continued to develop well into the computer age. Indeed, from the very beginning, digital technology offered new, serious uses for games, and from the 1970s onwards enabled the development of a variety of utility games, the number of which has grown exponentially over the decades. This has led to the emergence of numerous sub-categories (advert games, newsgames, persuasive games, games with a purpose, agile games, etc.) and the resurgence of activities based on analog games or components thereof (serious gaming, serious play, gamification, etc.). 
DO  - 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2025.1305 
JF  - Technology and Innovation 
KW  - Serious game, edutainment, wargame, business game, gambling, Jeu sérieux, ludopédagogie, wargame, jeu d’entreprise, jeu d’argent,  
L1  - https://www.openscience.fr/IMG/pdf/iste_techinn25v10n3_1.pdf 
LA  - en 
PB  - ISTE OpenScience 
DA  - 2025/05/28 
SN  - 2399-8571 
TT  - Au moins 2800 ans d’histoire et d’innovation en termes de jeux sérieux et autres activités ludo-utilitaires 
UR  - https://www.openscience.fr/At-least-2800-years-of-history-and-innovation-in-serious-games-and-other 
IS  - Issue 3 
VL  - 10 
ER  -