Demonstrating SIMA-Play: A Serious Game for Forest Management Decision-Making through Board Game and Digital Simulation
2026-04-06 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer InteractionComputers and Society
AI summaryⓘ
The authors created a board game called SIMA-Play to help people learn about forest management and its long-term challenges. The game uses data about how forests grow and shows players the effects of their decisions on the environment and economy over time. By giving visual feedback, the game helps players understand the trade-offs in managing forests. The authors suggest future studies to see how well the game teaches and keeps players interested in the topic.
board gamesforest managementsimulationdecision-makinginformation visualizationsystems thinkingsustainabilityeducational toolsenvironmental dynamicseconomic outcomes
Authors
Arka Majhi, Daniel Fernández Galeote, Timo Nummenmaa, Juho Hamari, Aaron Petty, Jari Vauhkonen, Heli Peltola
Abstract
Board games have shown promise as educational tools, but their use in engaging learners with the complex, long-term trade-offs of forest management remains strikingly underdeveloped. Addressing this gap, we investigate how forest growth simulation data can inform decision-making through information visualization and gameplay mechanics. We designed a serious game, SIMA-Play, that enables players to make informed forest management decisions under dynamic environmental and market conditions, simulating forest growth over time and comparing player performance across economic and sustainability outcomes. By using visualization to give players feedback on their choices, at the end of the game, it supports systems thinking and makes the trade-offs in forestry practices easier to understand and discuss. The study concludes with a research roadmap that outlines future experiments, longitudinal studies, and digital versions of SIMA-Play to assess its long-term effects on learning and engagement.