Supporting Human Capital development with Serious Games: An analysis of three experiences

•SGs are effective tools for enhancing lifelong learning.•Before adoption specific attention should be given to SGs selection.•SGs should allow appropriate personalization of learning paths.•SGs impact should consider both cognitive and affective/behavioral aspects.•SGs can be considered suitable means to contribute to develop Human Capital.

Serious Games (SGs) are increasingly being used in formal educational settings and it is almost universally acknowledged that they have strong potential for bringing innovation to education and for enhancing learning, this way also contributing to the development of Human Capital. This paper proposes some reflections on the usefulness and effectiveness of SGs when used in formal learning contexts. The considerations are derived from a set of SG-based educational experiences carried out in three European countries: Italy, Spain and Romania. The paper briefly summarizes the key aspects of the three research experiences and, by referring to the main lessons learnt, it also draws some general conclusions as to the potential of SGs to support the development of Human Capital both from the cognitive and from the affective/behavioural standpoint.