International Journal of Computer Games Technology

The design and development of a serious game are complex due to different and often numerous stakeholders involved. Different guidelines for general best practices exist, but those are not specific and often do not include therapists or patients as essential stakeholders especially in the context of individualisation of a serious games. Although there are a lot of serious games in the area of (stroke) rehabilitation, design guidelines and indications of what is important are quite scarce. Identifying individualisation possibilities to adapt a serious game to the specific needs of patients was identified to support and improve the design and outcome of serious game development. A literature research and the analysis of previously designed serious games created the foundation for this research. The identified configuration possibilities, additional requirements, and the developed workflow were then evaluated with the gathered insights of therapists trough an online survey. 20 generic configuration possibilities for therapists, as well as seven requirements, were identified and are presented, which can be used when designing a serious game in the context of stroke. In addition a workflow, called “DeapSea” is proposed for supporting the design as well. These results should be used as an addition to already established design recommendations to deliver an adaptable and flexible serious game in the area of stroke—helping to fulfill individual patient needs from the point of therapists and other involved medical stakeholders within the rehabilitation process.

Educating healthy lifestyle behaviors through game can help children and adolescents achieve healthy habits. The aim of the present study was to develop a game to promote children’s and adolescents’ lifestyle behaviors. The “Toward Health” is a board game designed by a multidisciplinary team consisting of nurses, nutritionists, physical activity experts, pediatricians, pediatric psychologists, graphic artists, and experts in designing board games to help children adopt healthy eating and sleep habits and become physically more active. Players move their tokens based on the number of squares indicated by a dice rolled. If a player’s token lands on the square containing questions or points related to a healthy lifestyle, he/she must answer the question or read the point loudly. If answers to the questions are correct, the player takes the card. Interventional studies are recommended to confirm the potential of these games in preventing and/or treating childhood obesity. In the future, we are going to assess the validity and acceptance of the game in various age groups.

People of all ages enjoy playing games, making online gaming a part of the modern lifestyle. Online games as digital products can reach gamers without being hindered by various limitations such as time and location. With a large selection of freemium and premium games in the virtual marketplace, gamers have the opportunity to switch between various games from different genres and make purchases of virtual goods. Therefore, the challenge that developers have to overcome is whether gamers will have the intention to play, pay, and recruit players (3Ps). To manage future behavior intentions, game developers need to ensure that gamers and the games they play have a solid engagement. Data collection comes from the results of distributing questionnaires to Twitter users with the self-reporting method. The amount of data processed was 370 respondents. The model was assessed using the partial least square of structural equation modeling. The results of this study show that video game engagement plays a crucial role as a mediator between gamer experience and the intention to continue playing, purchase game items, and recruit new players. Enjoyment is the strongest predictor of gamer experience, followed by arousal, social interaction, escapism, and challenge.

The use of gamification has gained important attention when it comes to developing desired behaviors in children. However, few studies have used this approach to increase respectful behaviors toward parents in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to propose a gamified application by investigating the game element preferences of children and the children’s practices toward parents, and to use the interactive gamification app to enhance respectful behaviors toward parents in children aged 5 to 7 in Saudi Arabia. An interactive gamification app was conceived in order to encourage respectful behaviors in children. Parents observed their children and assessed them with a survey containing questions about respectful behaviors and application elements preferred by children. The questions had an internal consistency reliability above 0.85. There was a difference in gamification elements based on demographics, but no difference in respectful behaviors toward parents. Three gamification elements emerged as important contributors of respectful behaviors toward parents in children: points, rewards, and interaction with others. However, the time the child spent using a smart device was negatively related to respectful behaviors toward parents. A gamified application with two interfaces can be used to enhance respectful behaviors toward parents. Programs that focus on enhancing desired behavior in children aged 5 to 7 should use gamification approaches and direct particular attention to the three aforementioned elements. Moreover, parents should control the time their children spend using smart devices.

The purpose of this study is to look into the components that affect the behavioral intention of Jordanians to use Virtual Reality Technology in the Learning Environment (VRTLE). For the educational and entertainment industries, virtual reality presents both obstacles and opportunities. The goal of this study is to determine the factors that influence VRTLE acceptance and to propose how such technology may be integrated into the educational setting of students and universities. A total of 60 students from private universities took part in the research. Among the participants, 63.3% were females and 36.7% were males. The modified UTAUT model used in this study only looked at the effects of four independent variables and two external factors, namely, acceptability (ACC) and usability (USA). Acceptability and usability have a substantial impact on student acceptance of VRTLE, according to the findings. Furthermore, as moderators, there is a major effect on both Awareness and Experience. This paper contributes significantly to the UTUAT model. It also tackles educational concerns about the transition to a virtual reality learning environment. As a result, it would be useful to look into other factors as well. As a result, a comprehensive empirical study should be designed to allow for the assessment of the effects of other variables as well.

The online game industry has increased time by time. Because of that, many addiction cases emerge in humans. In addition, some factors could make people addicted and mitigate or prevent the addiction. However, this addiction has already created some problems, such as skipping school (mild cases) to murder cases (huge cases). A gating system is a system that could prevent players from experiencing some content in the game after a specific limit has been reached. This study is aimed at identifying which gating systems in online games could make players more addicted and which systems are the most appropriate to mitigate or prevent addiction to online games. The study is done with a survey from online game communities with 458 samples in Indonesia. The result of the study shows that resource is the factor that affects addiction, and the stamina gating system is the one that affects resource as mitigation of addiction. This research shows that the stamina gating system will affect how players manage their resources in real life so that they will not be addicted to the game.