Search Results (310)

The emergence of effective Generative AI has sparked a revolution in video game development, enabling us to generate game assets and source code at a fraction of the cost and time needed compared to if human developers were involved. But the support available from GenAI goes far beyond the generation of game assets and code, especially in the case of serious games, which have to combine playability with non-entertainment purposes such as, but not only, education. In this paper, the potential forms of GenAI-based support for serious game development are explored and placed into the context of the respective phases of the serious game development lifecycle. As existing lifecycle models are either not specialized for the specifics of serious games or are otherwise too simple, a new serious game development lifecycle model has been proposed for this purpose. Full article

Background/Objectives: Gamification and game-based learning (GBL) have recently emerged as fresh and appealing ways of health education, and they have been shown to perform better in knowledge acquisition than traditional teaching approaches. Digital serious games are developing as innovative tools for cancer education and behaviour change, yet no review has systematically synthesized their use across key populations. This scoping review aimed to map evidence on serious games for cancer prevention, care, and survivorship among the public, patients, and healthcare professionals, framed through the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model. Methods: Following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, we searched Web of Science, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Eligible studies evaluated a serious game with a cancer focus and reported outcomes on knowledge, awareness, engagement, education, or behaviour. Data extraction and synthesis followed the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Results: Thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria, covering diverse cancers, populations, and platforms. Most reported improvements in knowledge, engagement, self-efficacy, and communication. However, heterogeneity in study design and limited assessment of long-term behaviour change constrained comparability. Conclusions: Digital serious games show promise for enhancing cancer literacy and supporting behavioural outcomes across patients, professionals, and the public. By integrating multiple perspectives, this review highlights opportunities for theory-driven design, robust evaluation, and implementation strategies to maximize their impact in cancer education and awareness. Full article

Serious games in nursing education provide students with unique opportunities to increase knowledge and enhance decision-making and problem-solving skills. Hence, serious games from simple quizzes that test students’ knowledge to Virtual Reality simulations that gauge students’ ability skills have been developed. This evidence-based review examines the latest initiatives in serious games for nursing curriculum focusing on the design and their technological features to highlight the need of pre-selecting the appropriate elements when conceptualizing a nursing serious game. Using search algorithms in Scopus and PubMed, 1969 articles published between 2019 and 2023 were screened, resulting in 81 studies and 69 unique nursing serious games involving over 7000 nursing students. Geographical distribution of serious games, the games’ type, teaching subject, nursing courses incorporating the games, technologies embarked, and different gaming platforms/engines utilized for their development are reported. Furthermore, common gamification elements (e.g., score, avatars, and quests) and key-design features (e.g., player mode, player–game interaction, feedback provision, and failure option) are described. By reporting on the latest technological advancements, a useful guide is formed, enabling both programmers and educators to easily grasp the newest trends on serious game design and use the produced knowledge to further enhance the nursing curriculum. Full article

With major effects on power grids and people’s lifestyles, the quick uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) poses serious problems for the robustness of charging infrastructure. By enabling spatiotemporally optimal charging strategies that optimize grid operations, big data technologies provide game-changing solutions. In order to solve the following issues, this paper summarizes state-of-the-art applications of EV charging big data, which are derived from vehicles, charging stations, and power grids: (1) optimized control of grid operation; (2) charging infrastructure layout; (3) battery development; and (4) safety of charging equipment. Future research opportunities include: (1) deep integration of intelligent transportation and smart grids; (2) renewable energy and intelligent energy management optimization; (3) synergizing smart homes with EVs; and (4) AI for energy demand forecasting and automated management. This study establishes big data as a pivotal tool for low-carbon EV transition, providing actionable frameworks for researchers and policymakers to harmonize electrified transport with energy sustainability goals. Full article

The Internet of Things allows us to implement concepts such as Education 4.0 by connecting sensors, actuators, and applications. In the case of direct and explicit connections, we refer to ensembles that can consist of devices and applications. When realizing spatially distributed applications, there are scenarios in which these ensembles must coordinate with each other. In software development, this process is referred to as orchestration or choreography. This paper describes a software framework that provides orchestration or choreography for self-explaining ensembles using predefined rules based on a self-description of all involved components. The framework is capable of generating user instructions or explanations for smart environments that cover interaction details. The approach also forms a basis to provide information about event-based coordination. In a case study, we investigated the technical perception of a coordinated spatial learning game application (an ambient serious game). Most participants perceived the application as cohesive and found it responsive. These results suggest that our framework provides a solid foundation for implementing coordinated applications within smart environments that appear as unified applications. Full article

Serious games are increasingly recognized as valuable tools in educational settings due to their capacity to enhance learning through engaging and interactive experiences. However, existing usability evaluation instruments often fail to account for the specific features and pedagogical goals inherent to serious games, thereby limiting their utility in iterative design improvement. This study presents a usability evaluation questionnaire SGU specifically designed for serious games, developed through a systematic literature review (SLR) following the methodology of Kitchenham and Charters. The resulting tool is a standardized questionnaire intended to comprehensively assess key usability dimensions, including gameplay mechanics, interface design, narrative engagement, and gamification elements. The questionnaire was applied in multiple serious game case studies developed within educational contexts, allowing for the identification of recurring usability issues and context-specific design challenges. The findings highlight the instrument’s relevance, clarity, and diagnostic potential, demonstrating its practical value for evaluating and refining serious games. This research contributes to the field by addressing a critical gap in usability assessment and offering a structured, context-sensitive approach for improving user experience in educational game design. Full article

Developmental dyscalculia is a neurobiologically based learning disorder that impairs numerical processing and calculation abilities. Numerous studies underscore the critical importance of early detection to enable effective intervention, highlighting the need for individualized, structured, and adaptive approaches. Digital tools, particularly those based on serious games, appear to offer a promising level of personalization. This systematic review aims to evaluate the relevance of serious game-based digital solutions as tools for the detection and remediation of developmental dyscalculia in children aged 5 to 12 years. To provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of this field, the selected solutions were analyzed and classified according to the technologies employed (including emerging ones), their thematic focus, the mathematical abilities targeted, the configuration of experimental trials, and the outcomes reported. A systematic search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Eric, PsycInfo, and IEEEXplore for studies published between 2000 and March 2025, yielding 7799 records. Additional studies were identified through reference screening. A total of 21 studies met the eligibility criteria. All procedures were registered in PROSPERO and conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. The methodological analysis of the included studies emphasized the importance of employing both control and experimental groups with adequate sample sizes to ensure robust evaluation. In terms of remediation, the findings highlight the value of pre- and post-intervention assessments and the implementation of individualized training sessions, ideally not exceeding 20 min in duration. The review revealed a greater prevalence of remediation-focused serious games compared to screening tools, with a growing trend toward the use of mobile technologies. However, the substantial methodological limitations observed across studies must be addressed to enable the rigorous evaluation of the potential of SGs to detect and support the improvement of difficulties associated with developmental dyscalculia. Moreover, despite the recognized importance of personalization and adaptability in effective interventions, relatively few studies incorporated machine learning algorithms to enable the development of fully adaptive systems. Full article

Serious games for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) require rigorous evaluation frameworks that capture neurodivergent interaction patterns. This pilot study designed, developed, and evaluated a serious game for children with ASD, focusing on operability assessment aligned with ISO/IEC 25010:2023 standards. A repeated-measures design involved ten children with ASD from the Carlos Garbay Special Education Institute in Riobamba, Ecuador, across 25 gameplay sessions. A bespoke operability algorithm incorporating four weighted components (ease of learning, user control, interface familiarity, and message comprehension) was developed through expert consultation with certified ASD therapists. Statistical study used linear mixed-effects models with Kenward–Roger correction, supplemented by thorough validation including split-half reliability and partial correlations. The operability metric demonstrated excellent internal consistency (split-half reliability = 0.94, 95% CI [0.88, 0.97]) and construct validity through partial correlations controlling for performance (difficulty: r_partial = 0.42, p = 0.037). Eighty percent of sessions achieved moderate-to-high operability levels (M = 45.07, SD = 10.52). In contrast to requirements, operability consistently improved with increasing difficulty level (Easy: M = 37.04; Medium: M = 48.71; Hard: M = 53.87), indicating that individuals with enhanced capabilities advanced to harder levels. Mixed-effects modeling indicated substantial difficulty effects (H = 9.36, p = 0.009, ε² = 0.39). This pilot study establishes preliminary evidence for operability assessment in ASD serious games, requiring larger confirmatory validation studies (n ≥ 30) to establish broader generalizability and standardized instrument integration. The positive difficulty–operability association highlights the importance of adaptive game design in supporting skill progression. Full article

This paper presents the research outcomes of the Golden Seal project, which addresses the omnipresent issue of plastic pollution in coastal areas while enhancing their touristic value through the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies integrated into a gamified recycling framework. The developed system employs an IoT-enabled Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to systematically collect, transmit, and analyze environmental data. A centralized, cloud-based platform supports real-time monitoring and data integration from Unmanned Aerial and Surface Vehicles (UAV and USV) equipped with sensors and high-resolution cameras. The system also introduces the Beach Cleanliness Index (BCI), a composite indicator that integrates quantitative environmental metrics with user-generated feedback to assess coastal cleanliness in real time. A key innovation of the project’s architecture is the incorporation of a Serious Game (SG), designed to foster public awareness and encourage active participation by local communities and municipal authorities in sustainable waste management practices. Pilot implementations were conducted at selected sites characterized by high tourism activity and accessibility. The results demonstrated the system’s effectiveness in detecting and classifying plastic waste in both coastal and terrestrial settings, while also validating the potential of the Golden Seal initiative to promote sustainable tourism and support marine ecosystem protection. Full article

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a multisensory tangible game device aimed at promoting pre-Braille literacy in children with varying visual abilities, including those who are blind, partially sighted, and sighted. The prototype integrates tactile, auditory, and visual elements to provide an inclusive and engaging learning experience. The device combines educational content with game-based learning, allowing users to interact with Braille characters through touch while receiving auditory feedback and visual cues. A focus group evaluation was conducted to assess the prototype’s effectiveness, engagement, and educational value. Results indicated that the device successfully captured users’ attention, with 83% recognizing its potential as a valuable educational tool for teaching pre-Braille literacy, 92% of participants reporting high engagement, and 75% of participants agreeing with the serious game approach. Feedback also highlighted areas for improvement, including the need for clearer tactile differentiation and more adaptive learning features. This study demonstrates the potential of combining multisensory feedback and serious gaming to enhance literacy education in children with visual impairments and provides insights into the further development of inclusive educational technologies. Full article

SCALENEo (Smart ClinicAL rEasoning iN physiothErapy) is an innovative online serious game designed to improve clinical reasoning in musculoskeletal physiotherapy education. Adapted from the “Happy Families” card game, it provides an interactive, structured approach to developing students/learners’ ability to categorize clinical information into families of hypotheses. This digital platform supports both self-directed and collaborative learning, eliminating the need for continuous instructor supervision while ensuring meaningful engagement. SCALENEo features a unique feedback and scoring system that not only assesses students/learners’ decision-making processes but also promotes cautious and reflective reasoning over random guessing. By aligning with evidence-based pedagogical strategies, such as serious games and formative assessment, SCALENEo offers educators a powerful tool to reinforce critical thinking, improve student/learner engagement, and facilitate deeper learning in clinical reasoning education. Full article

Serious games are an important tool for education and training that offers interactive and powerful experience. However, a significant challenge lays with adapting a game to meet the specific needs of each player in real-time. The present paper introduces a framework to guide the development of serious games using a phased approach. The framework introduces a level of standardization for the game elements, scenarios and data descriptions, mainly to support portability, interpretability and comprehension. This standardization is achieved through semantic annotation and it is utilized by digital twins to support self-adaptation. The proposed approach describes the game environment using ontologies and specific semantic structures, while it collects and semantically tags data during players’ interactions, including performance metrics, decision-making patterns and levels of engagement. This information is then used by a digital twin for automatically adjusting the game experience using a set of rules defined by a group of domain experts. The framework thus follows a hybrid approach, combing expert knowledge with automated adaptation actions being performed to ensure meaningful educational content delivery and flexible, real-time personalization. Real-time adaptation includes modifying the game’s level of difficulty, controlling the learning ability support and maintaining a suitable level of challenge for each player based on progress. The framework is demonstrated and evaluated using two real-word examples, the first targeting at supporting the education of children with syndromes that affect their learning abilities in close collaboration with speech therapists and the second being involved with training engineers in a poultry meat factory. Preliminary, small-scale experimentation indicated that this framework promotes personalized and dynamic user experience, with improved engagement through the adjustment of gaming elements in real-time to match each player’s unique profile, actions and achievements. Using a specially prepared questionnaire the framework was evaluated by domain experts that suggested high levels of usability and game adaptation. Comparison with similar approaches via a set of properties and features indicated the superiority of the proposed framework. Full article

The dramatic increase in global construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a considerable environmental challenge, but recycled building materials face serious marketing bottlenecks. Although existing studies have focused on the technological path and policy regulation of CDW management, they have not yet considered the impact of sales effort level under the dual-channel sales model. Considering the coexistence of price competition and bidirectional free-riding behavior, this paper constructs a Stackelberg game model, which includes a construction waste remanufacturer with both online and offline sales channels and a building materials retailer, to reveal the pricing decision-making mechanism under bidirectional free-riding behavior. The results of the study show that (1) in the decentralized decision-making model, offline free-riding has a negative effect on the online channel, and when the effort cost coefficient is high, it increases the retail price of recycled building materials in the offline channel; at the same time, under high cross-price sensitivity, both the manufacturer and the retailer are negatively affected by online free-riding behaviors; (2) in contrast to decentralized decision-making, centralized decision-making motivates the supply chain as a whole to significantly increase sales effort investment and develop a better pricing strategy under the condition of satisfying the threshold cross-price sensitivity, which ultimately improves the overall efficiency of the supply chain. The findings provide an important theoretical basis and management insights for the coordination of dual-channel supply chains, the governance of free-riding behavior, and the promotion of recycled building materials in the recycling economy. Full article

Serious games that integrate educational content with engaging gameplay mechanics hold promise for reducing cognitive load and increasing student motivation in STEM and health science education. This preliminary study presents the development and evaluation of the Medimon NASA Demo, a game-based learning prototype designed to teach undergraduate students about the musculoskeletal and visual systems—two critical domains in space medicine. Participants (n = 23) engaged with the game over a two-week self-regulated learning period. The game employed mnemonic-based characters, visual storytelling, and turn-based battle mechanics to reinforce medical concepts. Quantitative results demonstrated significant learning gains, with posttest scores increasing by an average of 23% and a normalized change of c = 0.4. Engagement levels were high across multiple dimensions of situational interest, and 74% of participants preferred the game over traditional formats. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed themes related to intrinsic appeal, perceived learning efficacy, interaction design, and cognitive resource management. While the game had minimal impact on short-term STEM career interest, its educational potential was clearly supported. These findings suggest that mnemonic-driven serious games like Medimon can effectively enhance engagement and learning in health science education, especially when aligned with real-world contexts such as space medicine. Full article

Serious games (SGs) have been widely employed in the digital preservation and transmission of architectural heritage. However, the key determinants and underlying mechanisms driving users’ continuance intentions toward ancient-architecture cultural heritage serious games (CH-SGs) have not been thoroughly investigated. Accordingly, a conceptual model grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework was developed to elucidate the affective and behavioral effects experienced by CH-SG users. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were employed to capture both the linear and nonlinear relationships among model constructs. By integrating sufficiency logic (PLS-SEM) and necessity logic (necessary condition analysis, NCA), “must-have” and “should-have” factors were identified. Empirical results indicate that cultural authenticity, knowledge acquisition, perceived enjoyment, and design aesthetics each exert a positive influence—of varying magnitude—on perceived value, cultural identification, and perceived pleasure, thereby shaping users’ continuance intentions. Moreover, cultural authenticity and perceived enjoyment were found to be necessary and sufficient conditions, respectively, for enhancing perceived pleasure and perceived value, which in turn indirectly bolster CH-SG users’ sustained use intentions. By creating an immersive, narratively rich, and engaging cognitive experience, CH-SGs set against ancient architectural backdrops not only stimulate users’ willingness to visit and protect heritage sites but also provide designers and developers with critical insights for optimizing future CH-SG design, development, and dissemination. Full article