  In order to facilitate analyzing video games as learning systems and
instructional designs as games, we present a theoretical framework that
integrates ideas from a broad range of literature. The framework describes
games in terms of four layers, all sharing similar structural elements and
dynamics: a micro-level game focused on immediate problem-solving and skill
development, a macro-level game focused on the experience of the game world and
story and identity development, and two meta-level games focused on building or
modifying the game and on social interactions around it. Each layer casts
gameplay as a co-construction of the game and the player, and contains three
dynamical feedback loops: an exploratory learning loop, an intrinsic motivation
loop, and an identity loop.
