Prospects for the development of educational computer games in the context of the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi

The subject of the study concerns one of the most significant problems of computer gamification of education – the question of criteria for the development and evaluation of educational computer games, including optimization of their game mechanics, game structure and forms of integration of players into their space, taking into account their specifics, goals and main educational purpose. The concept of "game flow", which originated in the gaming industry under the influence of the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi, represents an original interpretation of the criteria of internal motivation of human activity and, as the goal of game design, assumes the achievement of the highest immersiveness of the game and the creation of space for the construction of meanings. The concept of game flow is widely used in modern trends in the development of educational games: the use of innovative game mechanics that complement and enrich the traditional and most common model of PBL gamification and allow achieving the greatest human involvement in the process of playing and learning is gaining great promise in them. The article uses a comprehensive methodological approach, including a descriptive method applied to various concepts of learning gamification and motivation theories, as well as a comparative and hermeneutic analysis of research on the development of educational computer games. The scientific novelty of the research is due to the correlation of the concept of game flow and the theory of the state of flow by M. Csikszentmihalyi with the main tasks of educational games and trends in their development. The conclusions of the article state that the development of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies, 3D visualization, and the improvement of computer graphics open up new prospects for the use of computer games in education, including in the humanities. Despite the fact that the issue of determining the prospects for the development of computer learning games is solved in modern pedagogy by studying the mechanisms of formation of internal motivation and involvement in learning, the theory of the "state of flow" by M. Csikszentmihalyi is of great interest in this sense. Optimization of the game mechanics of modern educational computer games is aimed at personalization, creating a space of free choice for the player and involves individual selection of the level of difficulty of tasks. These and other characteristics of game design can significantly improve the effectiveness of training.

digitalization of the educational environment, game design of educational games, game flow theory, gamification of learning, immersive learning, flow state concept, Csikszentmihalyi, video games in training, serious games, the concept of the game