Are Aesthetics and Accessibility Conflicting Aspects in Serious Games Design?

This paper introduces the wicked problems in educational game design related to designing games that are aesthetic and appealing to a wide and inhomogenous user group at one hand, and on the other hand take the needs of specific users, such as age, impairments, or social disadvantages, into account. We take a closer look at how elements like sounds and aesthetic design support the learning and the immersiveness of one type of users, while for others it reduces the game experience, and therefore often also the learning outcome. We outline what aspects play into game design and argue for the need to consider these aspects earlier in the design process. In line with the goal to outline accessible and aesthetic practices in the field of educational games, we further look into the reuse of artefacts, as well as repurposing of serious games as means to create games that fits a larger group of students/pupils. Therefore, efforts have been underway for a long time to increase the accessibility of games [20–23]. So far, there are overlays or simplifications that can be implemented for some impairments, but often the games then lose their attractiveness or fail to support the underlying learning goals.