Converting Simulations for the Online Environment: The New Ginseng Game

Abstract

Simulations and Games are useful for teaching principles associated with sustainability and other concepts related to the Tragedy of the Commons. As institutions expand their course offerings to support online education, games and simulations need to be developed or adapted to the Online Environment. The Ginseng Game is a personal computer-based game that can be played in a single class period with the learning objective of helping students recognize situations susceptible to resource depletability and prevent the adverse consequences associated with the Tragedy of the Commons. The game usually results in bankruptcy for all players due to high team interdependence and short sightedness by at least one team. This paper describes general principles related to the creation of online games and simulations as well as describing the conversion of the Ginseng Game from a PC version to a Web version.