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This study aims to focus on carrying out a quantitative analysis of publications related to augmented reality (AR)-based gaming. AR combines the real world with the digital world and is a large basis of data in an ICT-based digital society. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive bibliometric review of research papers on AR-based gaming to identify the potential for the advancement of knowledge in this field.

In the experimental part, reference data from Scopus was extracted according to a search string formulated with great care. The retrieved data were then analyzed through open-source, sophisticated bibliometric tools, VOSviewer, along with Biblioshiny-R.

After running the analysis, it turns out that the years with the biggest number of publications were in 2010 and 2012. The focus areas of study include mixed reality, surveys and helmet-mounted displays. The USA was the most connected country in the research collaboration network; it has strong links with other nations including the UK, Canada and Greece, which cluster around it in the map. This trend of monetarily increasing number of papers depicts the growing interest and sustainable productivity in this research domain.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel perspective on AR-based gaming, which has not been so far examined by bibliometric analysis. The results provide important information for researchers and stakeholders. In addition to filling a void in the literature, this study is an important reference for those researchers who are interested in exploring evolution and trends in AR-based gaming research.

This paper aims to examine whether the instructional message used to introduce game-based learning (GBL), prior knowledge, flow and prior gaming experience have an impact on secondary students’ learning outcomes, perceived game utility and motivation to use the game.

Fifty-four 9th grades students enrolled in this quasi-experimental study. Both groups played the same game. The experimental group was told that they would be playing a game, whereas the control group was told that they would be doing an exercise. The game was designed to promote knowledge recall about familiar mathematical concepts. Prior knowledge was assessed. An immediate and a two-days delayed post-evaluated learning outcomes. Flow, prior gaming experience, perceived game utility and motivation to use the game were assessed with questionnaires after playing.

Introducing the GBL activity as a game increased immediate learning outcomes for low knowledgeable students, but these benefits did not extend to longer term. Indeed, when the GBL activity was presented as an exercise, low higher knowledgeable students obtained poorer longer-term learning outcomes than more knowledgeable ones, whereas no difference appeared when the GBL was introduced as an exercise. Prior gaming experience and the type of instructional message used to introduce a GBL activity positively influenced perceived game utility and motivation to use the game.

This study is the first to highlight that the way a GBL activity is framed affects differently low and higher knowledgeable students’ learning outcomes and influences perceived game utility and motivation to use the game.

This study explores the impact of biophilic design in built environments on sustainable behaviors through the innovative use of a serious game. By examining how exposure to biophilic elements influences behaviors in real and virtual settings, the research aims to demonstrate the potential of serious games as tools for promoting sustainability.

The study was conducted in three distinct experimental settings: (1) a real environment pre-game, (2) a non-immersive game environment within the same real setting and (3) an immersive game environment post-game. Data were collected from 162 participants who experienced these different conditions. The serious game “Pop a Coffee Corner” was developed based on biophilic design principles and used to assess behavioral changes.

Results indicated that exposure to biophilic design elements in real settings significantly enhanced sustainable behaviors compared to non-biophilic environments. Additionally, playing the serious game in a biophilic environment led to even greater improvements in sustainable behavior than exposure to biophilic design alone. This demonstrates the effectiveness of serious games in fostering sustainable actions.

The study’s findings are based on a specific university setting, which may limit generalizability. Future research could explore long-term impacts and applications in diverse contexts.

The research provides practical guidelines for incorporating biophilic design in built environments, and developing serious games can be a practical strategy for architects, urban planners and educators to promote sustainable behaviors among individuals. This approach can be applied in educational settings, public spaces and workplaces to foster a deeper connection with nature and encourage environmentally responsible behaviors.

By demonstrating the effectiveness of biophilic design and serious games in promoting sustainable behaviors, this study contributes to broader societal efforts to address environmental challenges. Implementing these strategies can lead to increased environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviors, ultimately supporting sustainability goals.

This study introduces the serious game approach as a novel method to evaluate and promote sustainable behaviors through biophilic design. It highlights the potential for integrating biophilic elements in both real and virtual environments to encourage environmentally responsible behavior, offering valuable insights to architects, designers and policymakers.

This study aims to synthesize the existing serious games designed to promote mental health in adolescents with chronic illnesses.

This study conducted a review following the guidelines of Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Searches were conducted in databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature, PsycINFO, China national knowledge infrastructure Wanfang, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals and SinoMed from inception to February 12, 2023.

A total of 14 studies (describing 14 serious games) for improving the mental health of adolescents with chronic diseases were included. Of all the included games, 12 were not described as adopting any theoretical framework or model. The main diseases applicable to serious games are cancer, type 1 diabetes and autism spectrum disorder. For interventional studies, more than half of the study types were feasibility or pilot trials. Furthermore, the dosage of serious games also differs in each experiment. For the game elements, most game elements were in the category “reward and punishment features” (n = 50) and last was “social features” (n = 4).

Adolescence is a critical period in a person’s physical and mental development throughout life. Diagnosed with chronic diseases during this period will cause great trauma to the adolescents and their families. Serious game interventions have been developed and applied to promote the psychological health field of healthy adolescents. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to scope review the serious game of promoting mental health in the population of adolescents with chronically ill. At the same time, the current study also extracted and qualitatively analyzed the elements of the serious game.

In ubiquitous games, sensor data and the player’s dynamic profile personalize the experience, adapting scenarios and difficulty to the player’s context. However, manually creating custom virtual environments becomes impractical due to the scalability required in the real world, where gameplay depends on the player’s environment and various points of interest. Procedural content generation (PCG) naturally emerges as an automated solution. This study aims to review the state of the art among pervasive games that use procedural generation techniques.

The authors performed a systematic review of the literature on PCG techniques in ubiquitous games. The research methodology included initial database searches, forward snowballing and backward snowballing.

The authors selected 40 articles published from 2008 to 2022 after analyzing 1,017 PCG articles. Many of these paper use dynamic difficulty generation methods that affect game customization, balance and playability. The majority of titles are in the area of education and require rigorous evaluation. Some articles mention the use of PCG but provide limited details of algorithms or processes.

The low presence of recent articles stands out, which can lead to two conclusions: poor use of indexing of articles in the area or low amount of research over these years. One of the search bases did not enter due to the number of keywords used.

The paper is a guide for researchers in the area of pervasive games who are interested in using PCG techniques in their games.

This approach revealed articles combining PCG and ubiquitous games, with no previous systematic reviews at this intersection.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of esports players based on their gaming behavior patterns across game genres and compare self-efficacy, social efficacy, loneliness and three dimensions of quality of life between these subgroups.

324 participants were recruited from prolific academic to complete an online survey. We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of esports players based on their behavioral patterns across genres. Additionally, a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to test the association between cluster memberships and development and well-being outcomes, controlling for age and gender as covariates.

LPA analysis identified five clusters (two single-genre gamer groups, two multigenre gamer groups and one all-genre gamer group). Univariate analyses indicated the significant effect of the clusters on social efficacy, psychological health and social health. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the salience of the physical enactment-plus-sport simulation genre group in these outcomes.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development and well-being benefits experienced by various esports consumers, as well as the role of specific gameplay in facilitating targeted outcomes among these consumer groups.

This study's aim was to investigate the role of the perceived values of gaming on consumers' perceptions of brands as cool as well as the impacts on the consumer–brand equity relationship. The study proposed a framework highlighting the influences of fashion-branded games on brand coolness and building fashion brands' overall equity. As significant factors affecting gamers, gender and gaming have been studied as moderators affecting the overall proposed framework.

A quantitative method was used to assess the significance of the relationships within the proposed model. Partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was implemented to assess the framework's relationships with a sample size of 248 active online gamers.

The findings indicate that brand equity is positively associated with perceived brand coolness. Furthermore, of the three core online game values, perceived enjoyment was most strongly associated with perceived brand coolness, with other values, such as self-expression and perceived emotional challenge, having a weaker association. The multigroup analysis results further suggest that in the fashion industry, building brand equity through online games is strongly related to perceived brand coolness among female respondents, with the role of perceived brand coolness affecting male respondents to a lesser degree.

The contribution of this study to the existing literature consists in providing a deeper understanding of the impact of branded games on fashion brands' overall equity. The results provide insights for fashion brand managers into the significant effect of fashion gaming collaborations on consumers' behavioral outcomes.

Research on electric sports (eSports) has experienced significant growth in recent years as a consequence of increasing connectivity, institutionalization, and technological advances. However, the interdisciplinary nature of the eSports as a field and the burgeoning growth in eSports articles have rendered it necessary to conduct a systematic review of extant literature to take stock of the knowledge accumulated. To this end, we aim to undertake a comprehensive review of extant literature that takes stock of published research to derive opportunities for future research in the realm of eSports. In so doing, we contribute to the advancement of the field by mapping out the knowledge trajectory of eSports research and elucidating areas that have remained underexplored thus far.

To conduct systematic review of the eSports literature, we employed a framework that included six essential steps: protocol, search, appraisal, synthesis, analysis, and report. This comprehensive approach enables us to meticulously investigate the existing body of literature on eSports and identify key trends and topics addressed within the field. By conducting the multidisciplinary systematic literature review, we thoroughly assess the current state of eSports literature and subsequently outline potential research avenues that can contribute to eSports fields.

This study draws on a six-phase framework – member preparation, team formation, character selection, team coordination, team performance, and team reflection – to illustrate the roles played by different levels of analysis unit (i.e. characters, players, and teams) and three distinct yet interconnected stages (i.e. inputs, process, and outputs) within eSports games as well as the research opportunities it brings.

We conducted a rigorous systematic review of the eSports literature by using quantitative citation analysis and qualitative content analysis. Furthermore, we adopted team dynamic view of eSports to identify potential research avenues for future research that contribute to advancing our understanding of the eSports tournaments.

Social live streaming services (SLSS) have infused gamification into interface design and feature applications. Firms adopt gamification mechanisms to win customer loyalty in the live streaming and SLSS markets. Based on the mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics (MDA) framework and uses and gratifications 2.0 theory (UGT 2.0), this study aims to investigate the effects of game mechanics (mechanics) on enjoyment and user retention (aesthetics) through rewards and social interaction (dynamics) in the context of SLSS.

This study used an online survey via Google Forms, SurveyCake and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Line to collect data from 232 SLSS users in Taiwan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted to analyze the data.

The results validated the relationships between game mechanics and dynamic elements (rewards and social interaction) that triggered aesthetic elements (enjoyment feelings) among users. In addition, users experienced a sense of enjoyment that led to usage retention when using the gamified SLSS. Further, this study found enjoyment crucial for users to stay interactive with gamified services.

Driven by UGT 2.0, this study closed the gaps by integrating the MDA framework into the SLSS context and better understanding how game mechanics are connected to rewards and social interaction, leading to enjoyment and user retention when using SLSS. This study provides fresh insights into gamification-oriented SLSS practices. It offers significant theoretical and managerial implications and provides guidelines for SLSS platform operators on fostering user retention.

The growth of the internet, access to technology and rapid digital transformations have paved the way for developing attack surfaces for individuals and organizations. There is a dire need to provide cybersecurity awareness most effectively. Gamification-based platforms have evolved to make cybersecurity education more engaging and effective. This study explores the gamification platforms available for cybersecurity training and awareness, the extent to which they are used and their benefits and challenges.

PRISMA 2020 was used to conduct the systematic literature review.

The study comprehends the game design elements and their role in the effectiveness of cybersecurity training and awareness. The study unveils that traditional education methodologies are insignificant in cybersecurity awareness, and gamification-based platforms are more beneficial. The paper summarizes the implications of the findings and further postulates future research directions.

This work comprehends the various forms of gamification platforms and frameworks available for cybersecurity training and will motivate further development of gamification platforms. This paper will help academia, private and public organizations and game designers enhance their gamification-based cybersecurity education interventions.