Maxim Raluca Ionela, Arnedo-Moreno Joan
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
JMIR Serious Games. 2025 Mar 5;13:e54075. doi: 10.2196/54075.
Digital serious games (DSGs), designed for purposes beyond entertainment and consumed via electronic devices, have garnered attention for their potential to enhance learning and promote behavior change. Their effectiveness depends on the quality of their design. Frameworks for DSG design can guide the creation of engaging games tailored to objectives such as education, health, and social impact.
This study aims to review, analyze, and synthesize the literature on digital entertainment game design frameworks and DSG design frameworks (DSGDFWs). The focus is on conceptual frameworks offering high-level guidance for the game creation process rather than component-specific tools. We explore how these frameworks can be applied to create impactful serious games in fields such as health care and education. Key goals include identifying design principles, commonalities, dependencies, gaps, and opportunities in the literature. Suggestions for future research include empathic design thinking, artificial intelligence integration, and iterative improvements. The findings culminate in a synthesized 4-phase design process, offering generic guidelines for designers and developers to create effective serious games that benefit society.
A 2-phase methodology was used: a scoping literature review and cluster analysis. A targeted search across 7 databases (ACM, Scopus, Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, JMIR Publications, and SAGE) was conducted using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 guidelines. Studies included academic or industry papers evaluating digital game design frameworks. Cluster analysis was applied to categorize the data, revealing trends and correlations among frameworks.
Of 987 papers initially identified, 25 (2.5%) met the inclusion criteria, with an additional 22 identified through snowballing, resulting in 47 papers. These papers presented 47 frameworks, including 16 (34%) digital entertainment game design frameworks and 31 (66%) DSGDFWs. Thematic analysis grouped frameworks into categories, identifying patterns and relationships between design elements. Commonalities, dependencies, and gaps were analyzed, highlighting opportunities for empathic design thinking and artificial intelligence applications. Key considerations in DSG design were identified and presented in a 4-phase design baseline with the outcome of a list of design guidelines that might, according to the literature, be applied to an end-to-end process of designing and building future innovative solutions.
The main benefits of using DSGDFWs seem to be related to enhancing the effectiveness of serious games in achieving their intended objectives, such as learning, behavior change, and social impact. Limitations primarily seem to be related to constraints associated with the specific contexts in which the serious games are developed and used. Approaches in the future should be aimed at refining and adapting existing frameworks to different contexts and purposes, as well as exploring new frameworks that incorporate emerging technologies and design principles.
数字严肃游戏（DSG）专为娱乐以外的目的而设计，并通过电子设备使用，其提升学习和促进行为改变的潜力已引起关注。其有效性取决于设计质量。DSG设计框架可指导创建针对教育、健康和社会影响等目标的引人入胜的游戏。
本研究旨在回顾、分析和综合关于数字娱乐游戏设计框架和DSG设计框架（DSGDFW）的文献。重点是为游戏创建过程提供高级指导的概念框架，而非特定组件工具。我们探讨如何应用这些框架在医疗保健和教育等领域创建有影响力的严肃游戏。主要目标包括识别文献中的设计原则、共性、依存关系、差距和机会。对未来研究的建议包括共情设计思维、人工智能集成和迭代改进。研究结果最终形成一个综合的4阶段设计过程，为设计师和开发者提供通用指南，以创建造福社会的有效严肃游戏。
采用两阶段方法：范围文献综述和聚类分析。使用PRISMA（系统评价和Meta分析的首选报告项目）2020指南在7个数据库（ACM、Scopus、Springer、IEEE、Elsevier、JMIR Publications和SAGE）中进行定向搜索。纳入的研究包括评估数字游戏设计框架的学术或行业论文。应用聚类分析对数据进行分类，揭示框架之间的趋势和相关性。
在最初识别的987篇论文中，25篇（2.5%）符合纳入标准，通过滚雪球法又识别出22篇，最终得到47篇论文。这些论文提出了47个框架，包括16个（34%）数字娱乐游戏设计框架和31个（66%）DSGDFW。主题分析将框架分类，识别设计元素之间的模式和关系。分析了共性、依存关系和差距，突出了共情设计思维和人工智能应用的机会。确定了DSG设计中的关键考虑因素，并在一个4阶段设计基线中呈现，结果是一份设计指南清单，根据文献，这些指南可应用于设计和构建未来创新解决方案的端到端过程。
使用DSGDFW的主要好处似乎与提高严肃游戏实现其预期目标（如学习、行为改变和社会影响）的有效性有关。局限性主要似乎与严肃游戏开发和使用的特定背景相关的限制有关。未来的方法应旨在完善现有框架并使其适应不同背景和目的，以及探索纳入新兴技术和设计原则的新框架。
