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4 pages, 194 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on New Challenges in Serious Game Design

by Stelios Xinogalos and Maya Satratzemi

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(13), 7675; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137675 - 28 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1073

Abstract

Serious games are games that have a “serious” purpose besides entertainment [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

Research

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33 pages, 52383 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Socio-Economic Decision Making and Emotion Elicitation with a Serious Game in the Wild

by Fahad Ahmed, Riccardo Berta, Francesco Bellotti, Luca Lazzaroni, Federica Floris, Giacinto Barresi and Jesus Requena Carrion

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(11), 6432; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116432 - 24 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1699

Abstract

There is a growing body of research in the literature that investigates the relationship between emotions and decision-making in socio-economic contexts. Previous research has used Serious Games (SGs) based on game theory paradigms with socio-economic contexts to explore this relationship in controlled settings, [...] Read more.

There is a growing body of research in the literature that investigates the relationship between emotions and decision-making in socio-economic contexts. Previous research has used Serious Games (SGs) based on game theory paradigms with socio-economic contexts to explore this relationship in controlled settings, but it is unclear whether such SGs can be applied in the wild, which would improve their usability in natural settings. The emergence and widespread availability of mobile computing technologies have enabled the creation of diverse SG implementations. We developed a mobile SG that combines four socio-economic interactions (trust game, ultimatum game, dictator game, prisoner’s dilemma game) into one narrative and conducted an initial experiment with eight participants. This study discusses the challenges of deploying SGs in the wild and proposes solutions to overcome them. The results from the preliminary user experience experiment indicate that the SG is a suitable tool for emotion elicitation in the wild and that the results are similar to those observed in previous studies under controlled environments. We argue that these findings suggest that mobile SGs have potential for studying the relationship between emotions and decision-making in socio-economic contexts in the wild, improving the reach of these methods beyond laboratory settings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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25 pages, 3033 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Measure for Serious Games Evaluation: Gaming Educational Balanced (GEB) Model

by Kim Martinez, María Isabel Menéndez-Menéndez and Andres Bustillo

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11757; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211757 - 19 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4831

Abstract

Serious games have to meet certain characteristics relating to gameplay and educational content to be effective as educational tools. There are some models that evaluate these aspects, but they usually lack a good balance between both ludic and learning requirements, and provide no [...] Read more.

Serious games have to meet certain characteristics relating to gameplay and educational content to be effective as educational tools. There are some models that evaluate these aspects, but they usually lack a good balance between both ludic and learning requirements, and provide no guide for the design of new games. This study develops the Gaming Educational Balanced (GEB) Model which addresses these two limitations. GEB is based on the Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics framework and the Four Pillars of Educational Games theory. This model defines a metric to evaluate serious games, which can also be followed to guide their subsequent development. This rubric is tested with three indie serious games developed using different genres to raise awareness of mental illnesses. This evaluation revealed two main issues: the three games returned good results for gameplay, but the application of educational content was deficient, due in all likelihood to the lack of expert educators participating in their development. A statistical and machine learning validation of the results is also performed to ensure that the GEB metric features are clearly explained and the players are able to evaluate them correctly. These results underline the usefulness of the new metric tool for identifying game design strengths and weaknesses. Future works will apply this metric to more serious games to further test its effectiveness and to guide the design of new serious games. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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13 pages, 1547 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tennis Attack: An Exergame Utilizing a Natural User Interface to Measure and Improve the Simple Reaction Time

by Nikolaos Politopoulos and Thrasyvoulos Tsiatsos

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 9590; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199590 - 24 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1891

Abstract

The present article demonstrates the process of designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating an active video game or exergame. The main goal of our proposed exergame is to develop the simple reaction time of players. The main target group are simple users; however, it [...] Read more.

The present article demonstrates the process of designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating an active video game or exergame. The main goal of our proposed exergame is to develop the simple reaction time of players. The main target group are simple users; however, it can work on tennis specialists. Herein, we used the exergame to investigate the hypothesis that players can improve their reaction time through practice. To achieve this, players’ simple reaction time was measured at the start of the game. Then, the players took part in a 4-week training session. At the end of the training session, the simple reaction time of players was measured again and a questionnaire was completed. Another goal of this paper was to investigate the difference between perceived usefulness (general usability, usefulness, and user interface satisfaction) of experts and non-experts (sports science students and computer science students) and pro-gamers and casual gamers. The findings were encouraging. The majority of the players reported that the gaming experience was very satisfying and the game was easy to use and learn. Moreover, after the analysis, it was discovered that this game can significantly improve the simple reaction time of all players. This improvement was independent from the players’ background. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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19 pages, 5505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

ARION: A Digital eLearning Educational Tool Library for Synchronization Composition & Orchestration of Learning Session Data

by Alexandros Papadakis, Anastasios Barianos, Michail Kalogiannakis, Stamatios Papadakis and Nikolas Vidakis

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8722; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178722 - 31 Aug 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1726

Abstract

In the last decade, there has been increased use of eLearning tools. Platforms and ecosystems supporting digital learning generate a vast amount of data and information in various forms and formats. Digital repositories emerge, such as video, audio, emotional data, and data triplets [...] Read more.

In the last decade, there has been increased use of eLearning tools. Platforms and ecosystems supporting digital learning generate a vast amount of data and information in various forms and formats. Digital repositories emerge, such as video, audio, emotional data, and data triplets of various events’ educational activities, making data management and orchestration extremely difficult. This results in evaluating learning sessions’ generated knowledge to remain unexploited. In other disciplines, such as law enforcement, various tools produce valuable data that help solve problems or improve situations by synchronizing several modalities. The data generated in educational learning sessions is an untapped treasure trove of information that can contribute to the production of essential conclusions that would be extremely difficult or impossible to produce with conventional methods and without the use of digital tools. ARION combines learning data into simple and understandable forms of information that will lead the teacher to a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of students, the lesson, the educational process, and himself by providing a critical look at available data aimed at a substantial improvement of all components of the learning path. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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17 pages, 1083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study

by Stelios Xinogalos and Maya Satratzemi

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(13), 6563; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12136563 - 28 Jun 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2887

Abstract

Educational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers in various fields of knowledge since they seem to motivate students, engage them in the educational process, and improve their performance. Computer programming is, without a doubt, cognitively demanding, and this has resulted [...] Read more.

Educational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers in various fields of knowledge since they seem to motivate students, engage them in the educational process, and improve their performance. Computer programming is, without a doubt, cognitively demanding, and this has resulted in extended utilization of educational games. An important limitation of the relevant research lies in the fact that it is based on volunteer participants, while it is carried out as a side activity in programming courses and not in real-world course settings. In this article, a study investigating the utilization of the educational game SQL Island in the context of an assignment on the Structured Query Language (SQL) in a compulsory undergraduate course on Web programming is presented. Fifty-six students attending the course evaluated the player experience and perceived short-term learning through a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model for evaluating educational games targeted to computing education. The results both on player experience and perceived short-term learning were rather positive. Students’ performance in the programming tasks of the game was very good, and the overall intervention proved to be effective. Moreover, conclusions were drawn on the constituent features of educational games that can be effectively used in the context of programming assignments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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Review

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35 pages, 782 KiB

Open AccessReview

Applications of Serious Games as Affective Disorder Therapies in Autistic and Neurotypical Individuals: A Literature Review

by Fahad Ahmed, Jesús Requena Carrión, Francesco Bellotti, Giacinto Barresi, Federica Floris and Riccardo Berta

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 4706; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13084706 - 8 Apr 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2966

Abstract

Affective disorders can greatly influence the everyday lives of neurotypical and autistic individuals. As platforms that promote engagement, computer-based serious games (CSGs) have been previously proposed as therapies to treat affective disorders for both populations. However, these CSGs were assessed on a wide [...] Read more.

Affective disorders can greatly influence the everyday lives of neurotypical and autistic individuals. As platforms that promote engagement, computer-based serious games (CSGs) have been previously proposed as therapies to treat affective disorders for both populations. However, these CSGs were assessed on a wide variety of experimental conditions, and there is a lack of comparative studies on their effectiveness. In this study, we identified and analyzed 37 interventions of CSGs for affective disorders in autistic and neurotypical individuals from 507 initial search results from four databases (Embase, Scopus, Web Of Science and IEEE Xplore), using concepts such as ‘serious-games’, ‘affective-disorders’, ‘autism’ and ‘neurotypical’. A total of 21 different CSGs were identified that were evaluated with 30 different outcome measures in the reviewed interventions. A positive impact was reported in 22 of them; specifically, all instances of depression interventions reported a positive impact of CSG therapies. Our comparative analysis indicates that CSG applications could be effective in treating affective disorders in autistic and neurotypical individuals. Additionally, our analysis identifies CSG design characteristics that might be useful in applications involving depression, anxiety and phobias. Based on these characteristics, we provide a set of recommendations for CSG interventions for affective disorder therapies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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27 pages, 1285 KiB

Open AccessReview

Gamification Techniques and Best Practices in Computerized Working Memory Training: A Systematic Literature Review

by Agisilaos Chaldogeridis and Thrasyvoulos Tsiatsos

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 9785; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199785 - 28 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2428

Abstract

Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) programs have been widely used in the past decades, offering an alternative solution in enhancing cognitive functionalities, especially Working Memory (WM). CCT supports users to overcome the monotonous context of training by utilizing specific game elements (GE). Several previous [...] Read more.

Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) programs have been widely used in the past decades, offering an alternative solution in enhancing cognitive functionalities, especially Working Memory (WM). CCT supports users to overcome the monotonous context of training by utilizing specific game elements (GE). Several previous studies focused on the efficacy of CCT, but only a few examined their potential in increasing motivation and adherence. This study aimed to (a) conduct a state-of-the-art systematic literature review to identify the most commonly used GEs in WM training and assessment; and to (b) investigate how they are utilized in regard to the audiences that are being applied. In total, seven online databases were searched using keywords related to WM and CCT, targeting studies from 2015 until early 2022. The systematic review identified 44 studies which were eligible for inclusion. The results report that the most widely used GEs are conflict (88.63%), feedback (84.9%), difficulty adjustment (73%), action points and levels (70.45%). On the other hand, GEs associated with competition and cooperation are not preferred except in very few cases. In conclusion, there is common ground in the use of GEs for WM training, but there is a need for further research to compare the GEs between them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges in Serious Game Design)

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