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The purpose of this paper is to help project management (PM) game designers and educators in simulating complexity in PM games and in assessing the effect of simulated project complexity levels on students’ learning experience. To achieve this aim, the authors attempt to design and evaluate two computer-based project crashing games (PCGs) with different complexity levels, namely project crashing game (PCG) and program crashing game (PgCG).

A literature review is conducted to identify serious games design principles. These principles are then manifested in the design of PCG and PgCG. The latter is a more complex version of the first. Students’ reaction after playing both games are then analyzed quantitatively.

The authors discover that students’ learning experience is affected by how complex the simulated project is. The more complex the project is (i.e. as in the PgCG), the more realistic the game is perceived. Nevertheless, the authors also discover that the less complex game (PCG) offers significant value to students, particularly to teach basic PM principles to those with minimum or no practical experience. This game is perceived as better in increasing students’ learning confidence as its content is perceived as more relevant to their existing knowledge.

The authors adopt a project complexity perspective when designing and evaluating the games.

This article introduces the best-worst scaling object case, a quantitative method of producing individual level models of heterogeneous perceptions, for use in behavioural decision making research in projects. Heterogeneous individual perceptions refer to observed or unobserved differences between individual perceptions that impact the outcome being studied. Individual level models of perceptions are important to account for the impact of heterogeneous perceptions on measurement tasks, so they do not become an unobserved source of variance that potentially biases research inferences.

An overview of individual heterogeneity is provided highlighting the requirement for individual level models in quantitative perception measurements. A literature review is then conducted of the quantitative methods and tasks used to measure perceptions in behavioural decision making research in projects and their potential to produce individual level models.

The existing quantitative methods cannot produce the necessary individual level models primarily due to the inability to address individual level scale effects, responses styles and biases. Therefore, individual heterogeneity in perceptions can become an unobserved source of variance that potentially biases research inferences.

A method new to project management research, the best-worst scaling object case, is proposed to produce individual level models of heterogeneous perceptions. Guidance on how to implement this method at the individual level is provided along with a discussion of possible future behavioural decision making research in projects.

This article identifies a largely unacknowledged measurement limitation of quantitative behavioural decision making research in projects and provides a practical solution: implementing the best-worst scaling object case at the individual level.