There are three stages of teaching in games described as follows:
Presentation: In this stage, factual information is presented to the user. In a gaming situation, the user participates in engaging game mechanics to discover or interact with the objective material to be learned. The game mechanics provide incentives and challenges to encourage the player to enter flow.
Application: In this stage, the user participates in game mechanics while employing the facts from stage one. The game mechanics reinforce good behavior as well as recall and mastery of the material from stage one. The game also reduces negative behavior—failure to recall and master the material from stage one.
Synthesis: In this stage, through interactions with novel game scenarios, the user has to apply the mastered knowledge to new situations. By doing this, mastery and consolidation is further heightened, and a higher level understanding and insight is achieved in the subject matter.