This article presents the development of an intrinsically integrated educational video game designed to train medical students and residents on the importance of formative feedback and how to deliver it effectively. Through this design case study, we describe the iterative methodology followed and its critical role in achieving a high-quality outcome.
Measuring cognitive gains in a multi-skill training game is challenging, especially with dynamic difficulty levels that must be factored into metric design. This exploratory study aims to investigate whether Item Response Theory (IRT) can be used to model the mission difficulty and scale the performance score of participants' attentional abilities to reflect their training gains in an attentional training game, Skylar's Run. Properties of EEG-based attention performance were investigated. We modeled the participants' focused and sustained attention scores during gameplay that are physiologically measured every 1/10th of a second. Using IRT, we calculated difficulty weights for 15 missions and scaled the performance scores accordingly to reflect the inherent difficulty across the missions. We also accounted for EEG data variability. Lastly, we validated the scaled performance scores by fitting regression models and found that training duration had a marginally significant positive association with the performance score of sustained attention but not focused attention. These results provide evidence of the viability of using IRT to consider variability in physiological measures of attention as well as in game difficulty in complex cognitive training games.
The emergency management community faces challenges in preparing for and responding to high-impact, weather-related disasters. Traditional training methods, such as tabletop exercises and full-scale drills, often fall short in replicating the complexity, uncertainty, and time-sensitive decision making required in real disaster situations. This paper highlights the need for a novel multiplayer, serious computer game to help train emergency management professionals. Informed by interviews with thirteen emergency management professionals in the United States, we propose a framework for a serious disaster game. The framework for the game has players acting in different emergency management roles working together to respond to an extreme weather event.
This demo showcases a lightweight conversation template designed to help students prototype short, character-driven interactions within Answer Campus, an ongoing academic game series. By writing inside an established game world using a prebuilt Unity framework, students can sidestep common early blockers in game development: scope creep, technical uncertainty, blank-page paralysis, etc. and instead focus on tone, branching structure, and relational outcomes. This demo was piloted as a two-week narrative design sprint where students created original conversations for existing characters, drawing on a shared character bible and game assets. Post-mortems revealed that the template supported both technical and narrative growth, allowing students to explore authorship, collaboration, and emotional design.
We investigated the effect of three virtual reality design features on users' emotional responses, including two visual features (object luminosity and background lighting) and an interaction feature (available actions). Our findings revealed the affective quality of these three design features, showing that object luminosity and actions significantly increase positive emotion, while dark background lighting induces slightly negative emotions. Object luminosity and action also had an effect on perceived presence, whereas background lighting did not. Only action increased the level of perceived cognitive load. We discuss the implications of our findings for the emotional design of VR games for learning.
This study explores how serious games can foster collaborative knowledge-building and resilience in wildfire preparedness scenarios. Through the analysis of player discourse during gameplay, we investigate how knowledge is shared, decisions are influenced, and strategic thinking evolves through co-learning while playing. Employing a discourse analysis framework, complemented by pre/post surveys, we aim to understand player interactions and enhance interactive learning. Findings suggest that structured in-game conversations facilitate knowledge sharing and player discourse reveals important insights into collective resilience-building processes.
Regular physical activity is essential for maintaining health, yet many adults remain inactive- often due to low motivation or lack of access to engaging training formats. Exergames, which combine physical movement with interactive gameplay, offer a promising solution. However, many existing systems fail to reach sufficient intensity to produce measurable physiological benefits. This study evaluates SkyRide, an adaptive exergame integrated into the immersive ExerCube system, which merges virtual environments with ergometer-based endurance training. Twenty-one healthy adults participated in a comparative assessment involving both a conventional cycle ergometer session and a SkyRide session. Key physiological parameters- maximum heart rate (HRmax) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max)- were continuously recorded. Findings indicate that SkyRide can elicit cardiovascular responses comparable to traditional ergometer training in the overall sample. However, subgroup analyses revealed differing patterns of exertion: female and lower-fit participants showed signs of overexertion, while male and high-fit participants experienced an appropriate level of exertion to slight underload. Subjective feedback was largely positive, with many participants describing SkyRide as motivating, varied, and physically engaging. Overall, SkyRide demonstrates potential as a health-oriented training modality capable of delivering effective cardiorespiratory stimulation in an enjoyable format. Enhancing the system's ability to adjust intensity based on individual fitness levels is recommended to improve training balance across user groups.
This study examines the learning app Basketball Challenge, designed to teach ballistic trajectory concepts at the secondary school level. The app is available in a gamified and a standard version. We compared both versions using pre- and post-tests to measure learning effects. While statistical analyses did not reveal significant learning gains, a notable interaction between gender and condition emerged in game performance. To deepen the analysis, Knowledge Space Theory (KST) and Competence-based KST (CbKST) were applied, enabling a structural, competence-focused evaluation. The model showed good fit for both knowledge tests and game levels. Although competence gains were small and statistically non-significant, structural analyses revealed patterns not evident in aggregated performance scores.
This study investigates the game mechanics necessary to induce real-world climate action by adopting a theoretically well-known model of collective action called the Wilcox Ladder of Participation to create a "Games Ladder for Climate Action." We then evaluate 10 games based on the different levels in the ladder, which includes the ability to inform, consult, involve players in decision making, facilitate collaborative actions, and inspire real-world independent actions. The results show that many games are effective in educating players, but fail to foster deeper engagement mechanisms such as player feedback, decision-making involvement, and collaborative problem solving, which are necessary for promoting real action. This study offers a framework that game developers can use to evaluate their games and some critical insights to help developers design more impactful educational games that not only inform, but also drive real-world action in response to environmental issues.
In this paper we will discuss the work we are doing within the Game4CED project regarding board games and dyschromatopsia. The term dyschromatopsia indicates a condition of hypo-functioning of a class of cones which leads the subject to confuse colors or perceive some of them in a limited way. Approximately 9
This paper explores the potential for large language models (LLMs), specifically ChatGPT-4o, to engage in role-playing games (RPGs) by making decisions based on predefined belief systems and motivations. Using a text-based dungeon crawler environment, the LLM was assigned structured character profiles incorporating alignments from Dungeons Dragons and motivations—wealth accumulation, wanderlust, or safety—to guide decision-making. This approach supports player modeling by enabling the creation of non-player characters (NPCs) that reflect diverse player types, facilitating personalized, adaptive serious games. We also introduce a system for evaluating an LLM’s effectiveness in character generation, offering a structured framework for assessing its ability to maintain consistent, motivation-driven behavior. LLMs demonstrated improved decision-making accuracy ranging from 75
Virtual reality has emerged as an effective tool for educational and research purposes. It provides an efficient means of replicating behaviors that cannot be easily reproduced for people to experience. In this paper, we focus on visual impairments and implement and test a virtual application as an effective tool for increasing awareness of nonvisible disabilities. We evaluated the results on 52 participants split in control and experimental groups. Results show differences between the answers that suggest positive effects on virtual environments.
This position paper introduces a theoretical framework for the design of learning games based on the concept of experiential metaphor. Grounded in experiential learning and conceptual metaphor theory, the framework offers a method for integrating educational objectives directly into game mechanics. By considering the game as an adidactic and metaphorical environment, it proposes three principles of convergent design to help designers create coherent, meaningful learning experiences that avoid superficial gamification. A concrete example illustrates the model and opens perspectives for its empirical validation.
This paper presents the co-design process of a serious game aimed at supporting the development of emotion regulation (ER) skills in preschool children aged 3 to 5. The project is grounded in-depth interviews with experienced child psychologists (n = 5), who provided critical insights into the needs and preferences of the target audience of the serious game. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed five key themes: emotional challenges, triggering contexts, ER strategies used in clinical practice, game-based learning recommendations, and the importance of parental involvement. These themes directly informed the game's design. Evidence-based ER strategies were translated into interactive elements such as guided activities, playful mini-games, and narrative-driven scenarios. The co-design process was essential to ensure the developmental appropriateness of the serious game and align its mechanics with real-world therapeutic practices.
This study presents the design rationale and prototyping process of GeoQuest, a mobile educational game designed to foster curiosity and promote lifelong learning in geography among adult learners. Grounded in game-based learning and design thinking, the project explores how user-centered design methods can inform the development of effective educational games. GeoQuest integrates map-based exploration, challenge-based quizzes, and incentive-driven mechanics to stimulate geographic thinking and self-regulated learning. The study follows the design thinking process, including empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing, supported by simulated interviews, persona development, rapid ideation, and iterative prototyping. The primary objective is to investigate how design methodologies can be applied to create engaging and educationally aligned game systems for adult learners. The resulting contribution is a high-fidelity prototype, supported by documented artifacts and usability planning, which illustrates a replicable approach to serious game design. This work provides design implications for creating learning environments that support spatial reasoning, curiosity, and lifelong learning through game-based experiences.
Parenthood poses challenges to emotion regulation (ER), especially during the transition to adolescence, a period of major emotional and social changes. Despite programs for improving emotional skills, access to mental health services is limited. To address these challenges, this study presents the development of a serious game (SG), called EmoBalance, to help parents of young adolescents identify emotions and learn ER strategies based on the Process Model of Emotion Regulation. The game design involved interviews with the target audience and relevant stakeholders. A pilot usability evaluation was conducted with three psychologists and three mothers to assess their experience of and satisfaction with the game. The mothers identified with the topics addressed in the SG. The psychologists recognized the game's potential for clinical application. Additional mechanics to increase parental engagement are recommended. By helping parents to deal with their own emotions and increase their knowledge of how to model and teach ER processes to their adolescents, it is also expected to contribute to the development of these skills in adolescents.
Dietary choices significantly influence greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, positioning food consumption as a vital focus for climate mitigation. Traditional eco-feedback tools often rely on abstract numerical data, which may hinder emotional engagement and user motivation. This study explores a plant avatar approach to deliver metaphor-based, gamified feedback on dietary CO₂ emissions. In a 7-day exploratory study, a Telegram chatbot delivered either standard numeric feedback or dynamic avatar responses based on daily food intake. Results showed that participants receiving avatar-based feedback exhibited greater and more consistent reductions in emissions and reported stronger emotional connections and interpretability. While preliminary due to a small sample (N = 8), findings suggest promise for emotionally intelligent, narrative-based interventions in sustainable HCI. This research contributes design insights for more relatable and motivational climate technologies.
‘Video games have gained remarkable popularity and have become the dominant form of entertainment today. While many educators incorporate video games into their classrooms, limited information exists on faculty experiences in this regard. We investigated teachers’ experiences in classrooms when using educational video games as part of their curriculum. Participants were a purposeful sample of 5 higher education faculty who used games in 4–9 semesters with a total of 3,226 students. The method used was a collective case study using semi-structured interviews and student game play data. Four major themes were discovered based on the interviews with the teachers. The themes show how and why the faculty use the games, mainly as a pedagogical tool, to connect with people, as a method to deliver content and as an artifact. Three distinct faculty profiles emerged from this research. To enhance the effectiveness of game-based teaching, additional research is needed to understand the training and support required by teachers and faculty. Tailored support and training materials should be developed to address the specific needs of these game-based teaching profiles, ultimately assisting faculty in their efforts to employ games in the classroom.
Sarnetz is a web-based serious game for teams of 5 players. The goal is to shape the future of the Eastern Swiss village Zernez in the Alpine region to create a CO2 neutral region. Players take on the role of different stakeholders and build consensus through discussions and proposals of different measures. Sarnetz is based on an existing board game and the digital version has been used in six workshops of 5–7 participants each. Using feedback from students and professors we conducted a thematic analysis and created three themes that highlight how the discussions were shaped: Seeking Consensus, Playing the Numbers Game, and Feelings Do (Not) Matter. Our work allows us to identify Mechanical Roles (MRs) and Role-Playing Roles (RRs) and how their unique qualities contribute to the overall experience. We provide a set of five design considerations on how to balance these roles in similar games.
Games are fun. Serious Games are even more than fun, addressing an additional characterizing goal beyond entertainment, e.g. learning, training and simulation, awareness, behavior change or health – ultimately benefiting the welfare of individuals and society. Nevertheless, serious games still represent a niche market of the prospering video games industry, and many serious games are not well received by players due to low quality. Numerous serious games developments end up in prototypes but are not successful from a commercial perspective. Based on that situation, the aim of this interdisciplinary, experience based, and practically oriented work is to raise game developers’ awareness of marketing aspects in the development process of serious games. The paper starts with a brief introduction pointing out the potential and status quo of serious games. Section 2 reviews key marketing concepts, primarily for readers with minor skills in marketing. Then, a conceptual model for marketing is introduced, bridging the game world with the marketing world. Hereby, emphasis is put on the need to consider relevant marketing aspects such as value orientation and the 4P of marketing during the whole lifecycle of game development, starting from a game idea up to the integration and use of a serious game in application fields such as education or health. As a tangible outcome and for practical use of the model, an initial game and marketing concept canvas is proposed. Section 4 provides practical insights how to use the conceptual model, by example of the ongoing research project SG4ChildD in the field of mental health games.
