Serious Games and Soft Skills in Higher Education: A Case Study of the Design of Compete!†
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article is interesting and if information is well organised, it has high potential for being published, see more detailed comments in the manuscript.
title does not capture the full account of the article
significance not mentioned in abstract
the revisions requested are crucial to provide the reader with a more comprehensive account of the bibliometric analysis and the description of Compete!
it is very interesting, however it does need better subheadings, organisation and more eboration on the key aspects of the article, figures would be helpful esp in methodology, pics from the game itself etc
literature review is incomplete, discussion of significance of game to SDG's is necessary
discussion should include some citations, which should come from literature review of e.g. gamification for teaching employability, etc.
a good conlcusion with implications explained is needed
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This article has been prepared with a very detailed study.
Better results can be obtained if the citation numbers of the 23 selected articles are examined. The web of Science already provides this opportunity.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This article presents an educational game with social sustainability content that aims to teach soft skills to higher education students as a means to foster employability.
This study presents an interesting proposal with the potential to be effectively implemented. In addition, the article is well-written. The game design is adequately described as well as the scenarios and tasks.
I would like to make the following suggestions:
- In the introduction section, it would be useful to highlight the reasons why this project is interesting, original, and important. It would be also interesting to highlight the unique characteristics of this proposal compared with other previous and relevant projects.
-It would be interesting to better clarify the reasons why you selected the 4 soft skills presented as the main target skills compared with other soft skills (lines 200-201).
-It would be interesting to add some information about the technical characteristics and features of the game. It is a 2D game?
-It would be interesting to inform the reader about the proposed sample group (higher education students), including any specific criteria as well as the way it influences the game design.
-In 3.2.1. section (lines 203-233), where the target soft skills are described it would be useful to add relevant research.
-In the discussion section, it is mentioned that “The increase in research papers regarding soft skills in serious games during the last few years (2019-2022) could indicate an increased interest in this topic that has previously received so little attention from academics”. I suggest supporting the arguments about the increased interest, the urgent need as well as the importance of utilizing serious games for soft skills training with additional and more critical arguments.
-Indicate any potential risks and how you propose to minimize them
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
revisions have been made, thank you
Reviewer 2 Report
Congratulations.
Good job.
