Background Patient education documents are faced with a number of issues that limit their dissemination, from intrinsic readability to how they appeal to patients. Previous studies have demonstrated a positive impact of visual media across the range of patients’ literacy skills, both health-specific and generic.

Objectives To devise a production mechanism for serious games in patient education aligned with the current development of patient guidelines, keeping costs manageable in the long term.

Methods The MUSE FP7 Project, funded by the European Commission, brings together computer scientists, cognitive psychologists and one GIN member. The project investigates the long-term potential of automatic generation of serious games from patient guidelines documents. It uses state-of-the art commercial gaming technology as well as developing new text analysis software.

Results A first prototype has been developed on the topic of bariatric surgery education. It features male and female patient avatars in a hospital environment and supports the interactive exploration and rehearsal of the various stages of the process. All the game actions can be related to specific portions of the patient education document.

Discussion The popularity of new media such as computer games improves dissemination prospects for patient education information. In addition, as suggested by recent research, the interactive nature of serious games makes the information more accessible, facilitates learning and addresses issues not covered by textual dissemination such as patient anxiety.

Implications for Guideline Developers/Users Serious gaming is poised to become a major health-related medium, hence the need for specific development processes.