Before parallels to or deviations from reality can be reflected upon, we highly recommend to take the time to debrief on the presentation of geographical topics within the game. Since the basic concept of geography is the concept of systems (DGfG 2020:10f.), the different parts of systems are a good orientation on which parts of a game to reflect upon in class. For one, the system elements could be taken into focus. The game equivalent to actors and structures/ factors in reality are the virtual actors (players, non-player characters, virtual parties/ interest groups), the controllable parameters (all variables that players can influence indirectly, such as the budget, the level of environmental damage, the number of inhabitants etc.) and the antagonistic factors (everything beyond the players’ control, such as natural disasters or natural preconditions) (see Lux & Budke 2020a:6ff). For example, the actors could be in the focus of reflection, by making the students determine which actors have an influence on a specific geographic issue in the game. For instance, the actors influencing city development in Tropico are the inhabitants as well as local political groups and political partner states. Then, the representation of these actors could be discussed – e.g., is the city population depicted as one mass, or do they have differing needs and opinions, are there even interest groups? The discussion can then be used as a transition to a reflection on parallels and deviations to reality (see 4.2).

In real-world systems, processes are important as well (DGfG 2020:11), so the cause-and-effect-relations and interdependencies within the system. In games, particularly from the strategy and simulation genre, these can be found, too (see Lux & Budke 2020a). Each action in a game has an influence on the virtual world. In the reflection phase you can for example have a look at how the different parameters in the game are interconnected, meaning how changes in one variable (e.g. the number of traffic jams) changes other variables (e.g. the satisfaction of inhabitants and the greenhouse gas emissions), which then again influence the next. Since different scale levels are of high importance to the subject of geography (DGfG 2020:11), it is also fruitful to reflect how actions on one scale level in the game influence other scale levels (for example how local measures can affect global climate change, how local city development influences the surrounding region, or how international migration influences a city). These reflections on the in-game system are a good basis for the later stages of reflection, particularly when it comes to the comparison to reality.

It is as well worthwhile to discuss players’ approaches, solutions, and strategies within the game. According to Charsky (2010:199), the full potential of the problem-based approach used in games can only be utilized in an educational context when the approaches of players are discussed with their teachers and peers in class. In the context of societal challenges, we particularly recommend to reflect upon players’ strategies to deal with the conflicting goals (such as those shown in Fig. 1) they encountered while solving social or socio-ecological issues. Questions to start a discussion could be the following: In which situations did you make the most conflicting decisions? Or, more precise: In which decision-making situations did you need to weigh up between ecological, economical and social aspects? How did you decide and why?

In that phase, it may also be fruitful to have a look at how exactly decision-making works in the game. The decision-making in games is always based on a loop (Czauderna & Budke 2020:5, Salen and Zimmerman 2003:316): A problem/ conflict/ decision-making-situation occurs; the player makes a decision, leading to an action taken, which in turn leads to a reaction by the game that is communicated via feedback, which then leads to new decision-making-situations and gives a basis for the next decision, while time modification and mediation of the choice of actions can assist in the decision-making. This process can be reflected upon in class as well. Questions that can be posed then are for example: Which (geography-related) decision-making-situations did you find most interesting/ difficult and why? What was the outcome of your choice (regarding the geographical issue)? How did the game communicate the outcome to you? Did others in class decide differently and why? In hindsight, what do you think was the most beneficial strategy and why do you think so? Questions like these can as well be used as an easy transition to the next step, the comparison to reality.