I have noticed that it is a very risky move to make a serious game, because some cases have a chance to rob you of what I think the reason people play games in the first place; to escape from real life. This is one of the main reasons AFMP fails. One of the missions you can had out flyers, I can hand out flyers in Berkeley all day its not fun! I play warcraft because I don’t have magic power, I can’t heal people in real life. I was talking to my friend next door who is a lobbyist in politics and after he described his job it sound a lot like the game AFMP. So I told him about the game and asked him if he would play it, his response was “no, I hate my job”.
This doesn’t mean that all serious games are bad. For example, growing up I play a game call Colonization. It was a turned base game where the point is to discover America, build a colony, and at the end survive a revolutionary war against your mother country. The darkest part of this game was your ability to wipe out Indian tribes. I you were the Spanish you could kill them quicker and convert them to farmers and slaves with a missionary. All in the name of learning
for a free version
http://www.bestoldgames.net/eng/old-games/colonization.php