Schaller & Allison-Bunnell’s paper here offers an excellent study of game types and learning models/stages.
What Egan’s theory offers us as designers of online learning experiences is valuable guidance about the kinds of abstractions people will find innately relevant and meaningful. We were inspired by these ideas during the development of the Shedd Educational Adventures online activities with the Shedd Aquarium. Since this project entailed producing online learning modules for five grade groups: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, and 11-12, we kept Egan’s kinds of understanding in mind during our development process, letting them inform the themes we developed and the stories we told.