The Educational Game Format (EGF) is an open file format designed to simplify the packaging of educational games. It was published with the DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17635411 by computer scientist Hervé Yvis. It provides a standardized way to represent, package, and play educational games.
The format is specifically designed for interoperability. EGF files can be created with any EGF editor. A game packaged as an EGF file is not tied to any specific app or platform, it lives in an open format that any EGF reader can open and run.
For teachers and institutions, EGF means less dependence on a single vendor, a higher likelihood that their games will actually reach learners, and a much simpler way to create educational games than using a game engine.
For learners, EGF means easier access to educational games and potentially more educational games to choose from, thus giving them a better chance to learn.
For edtech companies, EGF offers a common language for game-based learning. Authoring tools can export in EGF, platforms can import it, and content providers can distribute the same game to multiple environments. This makes it easier to build catalogues of serious games, integrate them into LMSs, and move content between systems.
Unlike generic e-learning standards, EGF is designed from the ground up specifically for educational games. It takes into account the way learners move through a game, receive feedback, and experience narrative or interactive scenarios. In short, EGF aims to be a shared foundation the whole edtech ecosystem can build on to make game-based learning more open, sustainable, and scalable.
