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Aim: This commentary discusses the concept of 'gamification' as referred to implicitly or explicitly in the occupational therapy literature. Although occasionally noted to be a new frontier for occupational therapy, our analysis suggests that game mechanics and gamification elements are, in fact, a 'road long traveled' by occupational therapists and that gamification evokes the core aims and vision of occupational therapy. Gamification has been implicitly incorporated into the occupational therapy literature for years, and its benefit of enhancing therapeutic outcomes is evident in many instances. We contend that a more explicit use of the term gamification within the occupational therapy literature will lead to a framework in which both practitioners and researchers can structure and evaluate therapeutic outcomes., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Gamification features to motivate individuals to exercise have become a trend in the fitness sector that is gaining popularity. It is based on the idea that adding fun and competitive components to workout routines will inspire people to achieve their fitness objectives and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This research study attempts to analyze the literature that explores this concept of gamification in detail, and create a picture of how its implementation has changed fitness and healthy habits. This research incorporated the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach as its research methodology. Search strategy used a set of inclusion-exclusion criteria that helped us examine through hundreds of articles identified in the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. After exclusive and inclusion criteria, 48 articles were selected to be reviewed in detail. Results have indicated that gamification strategy is a supporting factor to overcome the difficulties of executing exercises. Also, to improve the willingness towards fitness regimens.

Chronic health conditions have necessitated the need for behavioral interventions (such as exercise programs) outside of clinical contexts, increasingly managed through technology such as mobile health (mHealth) services. Gamification has emerged as a promising tool to facilitate greater engagement in these services; however, no studies investigate the links between specific game design elements (GDEs) and psychological or behavioral outcomes within a health context. This domain is motivationally complex and has shown resistance to the satisfaction of social (relatedness) needs, presenting a challenge to the design of gamification products for health promotion. Drawing on self-determination theory, this research demonstrates the strengths of a taxonomy based upon structural features of GDEs (such as social, narrative or reward elements) rather than the design intent definitions of these elements used in previous studies. This taxonomy is then used to assess the relationship between GDEs and psychological needs satisfaction in a survey (N = 236) of gamified exercise/fitness application users. Further qualitative interviews (N = 20) were conducted to clarify survey findings. This research demonstrates the positive association between control and presentation elements and autonomy satisfaction, and control and reward elements and competency satisfaction. However, it also suggests that player type and context may limit the ability for GDEs alone to support relatedness satisfaction in mHealth services. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed, particularly the strengths and weaknesses of using structural taxonomies in gamification assessment., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Educational games have been proven to support the teaching of various concepts across disciplines. Plagiarism is a major problem among undergraduate and postgraduate students at universities., Objective: In this paper, we propose a game called Plagi-Warfare that attempts to teach students about plagiarism., Methods: To do this at a level that is beyond quizzes, we proposed a game storyline and mechanics that allow the player (or student) to play as a mafia member or a detective. This either demonstrated their knowledge by plagiarizing within the game as a mafia member or catching plagiarists within the game as a detective. The game plays out in a 3D environment representing the major libraries of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. In total, 30 students were selected to evaluate the game., Results: Evaluation of the game mechanics and storyline showed that the student gamers enjoyed the game and learned about plagiarism., Conclusions: In this paper, we presented a new educational game that teaches students about plagiarism by using a new crime story and an immersive 3D gaming environment representing the libraries of the University of Johannesburg., (©Abejide Ade-Ibijola, Keagan Young, Nashik Sivparsad, Mpho Seforo, Suhail Ally, Adebola Olowolafe, Maria Frahm-Arp. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (https://games.jmir.org), 16.02.2022.)

Background: Gamification is one of the techniques that applies game elements, such as game mechanics and dynamics, to a nongame context (eg, management, education, marketing, and health care). A variety of methodologies have been published for developing gamification. However, some of these are only usable by people with a certain level of gamification knowledge. People who do not have such knowledge face difficulty in using game mechanics and experiencing enjoyment. To ease their difficulties, a gamification methodology should provide directions for using game mechanics., Objective: This study aimed at collecting global gamification cases and determining patterns or differences among the collected cases., Methods: In total, 754 cases were collected based on 4F process elements, such as play type, playful user experience (PLEX)-based fun factors, and game mechanics. In addition, the collected cases were classified into 6 categories. From the data analysis, basic statistics and correlation analyses (Pearson and Kendall) were conducted., Results: According to the analysis results in PLEX-based fun factors, challenge and completion fun factors formed a large proportion among the 6 categories. In the results of the game mechanics analysis, point, leaderboard, and progress accounted for a large proportion among the 6 categories. The results of the correlation analysis showed no difference or specific patterns in game mechanics (Pearson r>.8, Kendall τ>.5, P<.05) and PLEX-based fun factors (Pearson r>.8, Kendall τ>.7, P<.05)., Conclusions: On the basis of the statistical findings, this study suggests an appropriate number of PLEX-based fun factors and game mechanics. In addition, the results of this study should be used for people who do not have gamification knowledge and face difficulty using game mechanics and PLEX-based fun factors., (©Sungjin Park, Sangkyun Kim. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 06.11.2018.)

Background: Clinical reasoning is viewed as a problem-solving activity; in games, players solve problems. To provide excellent patient care, nursing students must gain competence in clinical reasoning. Utilising gaming elements and virtual simulations may enhance learning of clinical reasoning., Objectives: To investigate nursing students' experiences of learning clinical reasoning process by playing a 3D simulation game., Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study., Setting: Thirteen gaming sessions at two universities of applied sciences in Finland. The prototype of the simulation game used in this study was single-player in format. The game mechanics were built around the clinical reasoning process., Participants: Nursing students from the surgical nursing course of autumn 2014 (N=166)., Methods: Data were collected by means of an online questionnaire., Results: In terms of the clinical reasoning process, students learned how to take action and collect information but were less successful in learning to establish goals for patient care or to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Learning of the different phases of clinical reasoning process was strongly positively correlated. The students described that they learned mainly to apply theoretical knowledge while playing. The results show that those who played digital games daily or occasionally felt that they learned clinical reasoning by playing the game more than those who did not play at all., Conclusion: Nursing students' experiences of learning the clinical reasoning process by playing a 3D simulation game showed that such games can be used successfully for learning. To ensure that students follow a systematic approach, the game mechanics need to be built around the clinical reasoning process., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)