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Background: Serious games and game-based learning are widely used in education. Gaming in logistics education relies on serious gaming with no or less consideration on enjoyment. Intervention: This study examines in a first step whether and if so, how (serious) games are used as part of logistics majors' curricula at German universities. Based on the findings, an entertainment game about warehousing is developed and validated. Methods: Warehousing is an application-based discipline in which the operation of different picking techniques has an impact on the order picking. To help students understand the impact of such techniques, the 2D game WareMover was developed. The open-access game combines education and entertainment with different gamification objects and can be played in singleplayer or multiplayer mode. In this competitive 2D game, the objective is to pick orders by navigating around the warehouse towards the right shelf and to click on the correct storage compartment. The player has to achieve the highest score, which is determined by the fastest and least erroneous delivery. Four different picking techniques can be used in two game modes. Results: The results of a 14-player game session are presented. All players played both game variants with all picking techniques and completed a questionnaire. The players rated the game as user-friendly, entertaining, didactically useful, suitable for teaching and education, and engaging. In addition, the majority of players would play the game again and recommend it to others. Conclusion: The open-source game WareMover can contribute to studies in the field of warehousing by teaching students about picking techniques and the differences between these techniques. The novel game approach of interpreting a serious game as an entertainment game can increase the enjoyment and motivation of the players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, serious games have been used as an educational method in various fields such as economy, marketing, military, education, and health as a training method. Pressure injuries (PIs) are a significant health problem and clinical quality improvement issue throughout the world. Implementation of prevention strategies has gained importance in all healthcare settings due to the negative effects of PIs. Educating patient relatives on PI prevention is essential. Aims: This study aimed to develop a serious game for the training of patient relatives on PI prevention and evaluate the game in terms of knowledge acquisition and its features. Methods: The study was carried out as a single-group quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design in three stages between August 1, 2020-April 30, 2022. In the first stage educational content, knowledge assessment test, and game evaluation questionnaire were prepared. A web-based serious game (PreSore: Pressure Injury Prevention Game) was developed in the second stage. The participants played the game in the third stage, and data was collected. The study sample consisted of patient relatives (n=55). A knowledge assessment test (pre-test, post-test, and re-test) and a game evaluation questionnaire were administered for the data collection. Results: It was determined that there was a significant increase in knowledge scores after the PreSore game implementation (p <.001). Most of the participants indicated that the information in the game was easy to understand (98.2%), they wanted to share their educational experience with others with the digital game method (96.4%), and they found the game was authentic (94.5%). Conclusions: The study revealed that the PreSore game is a method that could be used to train patient relatives on PI prevention. Integrating the PreSore into daily practice in healthcare institutions and conducting prospective studies are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document, titled "Making a Better Future Using Simulation and Gaming," discusses the potential benefits of using gamification and simulation in various fields. The authors highlight the positive impact that games and gaming technology can have on skills, cognition, and well-being. They also emphasize the importance of reliable simulations and gaming scenarios in preparing for and dealing with crises such as natural disasters and global conflicts. The authors express optimism and encourage readers to embrace insights and tools derived from gaming and simulation to address the challenges of today and the future. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the concept of changing and bending rules in various cultural rituals and academic fields. It uses the example of the Japanese tea ceremony, which has undergone changes over time to adapt to societal shifts. The authors argue that flexibility in rules and rituals is necessary for them to remain relevant and survive. They encourage researchers in the field of simulation and gaming to have a mindset of exploring and embracing different scenarios and rule variations. [Extracted from the article]

Background: To overcome the high failure rate of gameful interventions, we need to better understand their design and evaluation strategies to build an evidence-base for best-practice approaches that bring about meaningful change. This systematic review asks: 'What behavioural and technological design and evaluation theories and approaches are applied in games developed to bring about positive environmental outcomes?'. Method: We reviewed 52 papers published between 2015 and 2020 that used gameful interventions to improve behaviour related to environmental outcomes. These papers were analysed to review the behavioural and technical design, and the assessment and evaluation approaches, employed by the intervention designers. Results: We found that these publications report on simple aspects of the behavioural and technical design behind the intervention but fail to justify their design choices in terms of theory and evidence. Furthermore, variability across their evaluation approaches and outcomes exists. Discussion: This review highlights several systemic flaws in the literature that limit our understanding of gameful interventions in the pro-environmental context. First, based on this review, we cannot be convinced that these interventions were designed according to best practice for intervention design or for technology development. Second, the justification for proposing a gameful intervention is not always clear. Finally, it is unclear whether these interventions are being evaluated based on best practice. Thus, it is not clear that we can draw confident conclusions about evidence-based outcomes of short-term engagement (in structural gamification interventions) or long-term behaviour change (in content gamification and serious game interventions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Play is an important part of the childhood. The learning potential of playing and creating non-digital games, like tabletop games, however, has not been fully explored. Aim: The study discussed in this paper identified a range of activities through which learners redesigned a mathematics-oriented tabletop game to develop their ideas and competencies in an integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) class. Method: Third and fourth graders worked as teams to make changes on Triominos over a period of six weeks. Considering what could be changed from the original game, each group provided a different design for Triominos to accommodate the changes introduced. We gathered data through weekly observations of two classes (about 45 learners, ranging from age eight to ten) in a west-Canada school. In this paper, we present the works of three groups of three teammates. Results: We found that any change made by learners not only influenced mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics of the game but also helped engage learners, encourage unconventional ideas, promote learning, and solve problems. Based on our findings, we suggest redesigning games facilitated learners deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts as part of a designed game system in STEM classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Although the effectiveness of game-based learning (GBL) is well-supported, much less is known about the process underlying it. Nevertheless, developing a mental model that matches the game system, which in turn models a real-world system, is a promising proposed process.Aim. This article explores the first steps in model matching: identifying the entities and (complex) relations in a game system.Method. Participants (N = 30) played the analog game DOMINION and completed a multi-step mental model mapping exercise. Categories of entities in mental model maps were inductively identified with grounded theory coding, while complex relations in mental model maps were identified via content analysis.Results. Participants described formal game entities, player actions, sociality, learning processes, and subjective experience in their mental model maps. Participants identified very few complex relations—and no feedback loops—in their mental model maps.Conclusions. Games—and analog games specifically—provide a breadth of resources for model matching and GBL. Through gameplay, learners come to affix conceptual meanings to material objects, a process dubbed lamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Many learning environments are quickly deserted by learners, even if they are efficient. Gamification of learning environments is a recent approach used to enhance learners’ motivation and participation.Aim. People have various expectations and react differently faced with specific game mechanics. An important goal lies in automatically adapting game mechanics according to player types. In this article, we study the gaming features that can be adapted in learning environments and the player model that can be used for the adaptation process. We propose an approach that aims to predict to which game mechanics a user is responsive, and to adapt the gaming features of the system according to this information.Methodology. An implementation was released, and evaluated through an quasi-experimental study with 59 middle school students, each one using the learning environment during three 45-minutes sessions.Results. The results validate the implementation of the system and show that the users’ activity can help to predict their profile. The adaptation process did not improve learners’ engagement as expected, but it shows a path for future research toward an adaptive approach for learning environment gamification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article defines gamification in relation to serious games through the identification of the theoretical commonalities between them using the game attribute taxonomy presented by W. L. Bedwell and colleagues. Topics covered include the definition of gamification in the theory of gamified learning, games with the purpose of affecting learning-related behaviors or attitudes and the development of a psychological theory of gamified learning.