A best practice for gamification in large companies: An extensive study focusing inter-generational acceptance

Gamification is increasingly successful in the field of education and health. However, beyond call-centers and applications in human resources, its utilization within companies remains limited. In this paper, we examine the acceptance of gamification in a large company (with over 17,000 employees) across three generations, namely X, Y, and Z. Furthermore, we investigate which gamification elements are suited for business contexts, such as the dissemination of company principles and facts, or the organization of work tasks. To this end, we conducted focus group discussions, developed the prototype of a gamified company app, and performed a large-scale evaluation with 367 company employees. The results reveal statistically significant intergenerational disparities in the acceptance of gamification: younger employees, especially those belonging to Generation Z, enjoy gamification more than older employees and are most likely to engage with a gamified app in the workplace. The results further show a nuanced range of preferences regarding gamification elements: avatars are popular among all generations, badges are predominantly appreciated by Generations Z and Y, while leaderboards are solely liked by Generation Z. Drawing upon these insights, we provide recommendations for future gamification projects within business contexts. We hope that the results of our study regarding the preferences of the gamification elements and understanding generational differences in acceptance and usage of gamification will help to create more engaging and effective apps, especially within the corporate landscape

Developing Serious Games with Integrated Debriefing - Findings from a Business Intelligence Context

Serious games (SG) are recognized in severaldomains as a promising instructional approach. When itcomes to the field of Information Systems, however, theyare not yet broadly investigated. Especially in businessintelligence and analytics, a literature review indicates theabsence of SG for proper report design. Such games,however, seem beneficial since many business reportssuffer from poor business information visualization (BIV).To address this issue, the scope of the study is twofold:first, the paper presents a SG that aims to foster learningabout BIV. Second, it evaluates this SG in a laboratoryexperiment, comparing it to a more conventional instruc-tional approach (i.e., presentation) and testing two differentversions of the game: One version integrates debriefinginto the game itself, whereas the other version uses clas-sical post hoc debriefing. Results indicate that it is favor-able to integrate debriefing into the game in terms ofmotivation and learning outcomes. In the vein of designscience research, the authors thus intend to contribute auseful artifact as well as a novel design principle for thisinstructional approach: Integrating debriefing into SG

TIME BALANCING OF COMPUTER GAMES USING ADAPTIVE TIME-VARIANT MINIGAMES

Game designers spend a great deal of time developing balanced game experiences. However, differences in player ability, hardware capacity (e.g. network connections) or real-world elements (as in mixed-reality games), make it difficult to balance games for different players in different conditions. In this research, adaptive time-variant minigames have been introduced as a method of addressing the challenges in time balancing as a part of balancing players of games. These minigames were parameterized to allow both a guaranteed minimum play time (the minimum time to complete a minigames to address the fixed temporal constraints) and dynamic adaptability (the ability of adapting the game during the game play to address temporal variations caused by individual differences). Three time adaptation algorithms have been introduced in this research and the interaction between adaptive algorithm, game mechanic, and game difficulty were analyzed in controlled experiments. The studies showed that there are significant effects and interactions for all three factors, confirming the initial hypothesis that these processes were important and linked to each other. Furthermore, the studies revealed that finer temporal granularity leads to less-perceptible adaptation and smaller deviations in game completion times. The results also provided evidence that adaptation mechanisms allow accurate prediction of play time. The designed minigames were valuable in helping to balance temporal asymmetries in a real mixed-reality game. It was also found that these adaptation algorithms did not interrupt the overall play experience

A serious game for raising air pollution awareness in children

Air pollution has been one of the most discussed topics in the world in the last years, due to its effects on the atmosphere of our planet and our health overall. Currently, over 2.6 billion people are exposed to indoor air pollution, which tells us that efforts are needed to raise people’s awareness about air pollution. The use of serious games and gamification of apps have raised people’s perception, but these effects end up being short-term. This work presents “Problemas no Ar”, a game developed in Unity about air pollution where the player’s goal is to control a character tasked to monitor indoor and outdoor air pollution with sensors in several city zones. While playing, children are expected to learn the possible causes of pollution in each zone and, this way, the game attempts to promote pro-environmental behaviours. This game allows educators to configure the problems that the player has to solve. Pre- and post-surveys about air pollution were elaborated to evaluate perception of twenty students of an elementary school before and after playing the game. Participants’ gameplay experience was also evaluated through a usability score. Results show that the game provided some significant positive effects on participants’ perception. In terms of usability scores, the mean value was 75 out of 100, a value that is acceptable.A poluição atmosférica tem sido um dos temas mais discutidos no mundo nos últimos anos, o que está a afetar a atmosfera do nosso planeta e a nossa saúde em geral. Mais de 2.6 mil milhões de pessoas no mundo sofrem de poluição do ar interior dentro das suas casas, isto diz-nos que são necessários esforços para aumentar a consciência das pessoas sobre a poluição do ar. A utilização de jogos sérios e a gamificação de aplicações têm aumentado a perceção das pessoas, mas estes efeitos acabam por ser de curto prazo. Este trabalho apresenta "Problemas no Ar", um jogo desenvolvido em Unity sobre poluição atmosférica onde o objetivo do jogador é monitorizar a poluição atmosférica interior e exterior com sensores dispostos por várias zonas urbanas e aprender as possíveis causas da poluição em cada zona, tentando promover comportamentos pró-ambientais nas crianças. Este jogo permite que educadores consigam configurar os problemas que o jogador tem de resolver. Questionários pré- e pós- jogo sobre a poluição do ar foram elaborados para avaliar a perceção de vinte alunos do ensino básico antes e depois de jogar o jogo, a pontuação de usabilidade do jogo também foi medida. Os resultados mostram que o jogo teve efeitos positivos na perceção dos participantes, alguns itens foram significativos, outros não tão significativos. Em termos de usabilidade do jogo, o valor médio foi de 75 de 100, o que é aceitável

Mario Math with Millennials: The Impact of Playing the Nintendo DS on Student Achievement

One of the biggest innovations of the last century has been the invention of the video game. Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment today. While some question the use of video games in education, others argue that video games are one innovation that if introduced into the classroom, might change how teachers effectively engage learners. This quantitative study examined the impact of Brain Age 2 for the Nintendo DS on seventh grade achievement in math and on student attitude towards school. A sample of eighty seventh graders from the same school played the Nintendo DS daily for fifteen minutes over nine weeks. No significant difference was found in math achievement after using the game. Achievement in mathematics was analyzed with a paired t-test. Student attitude was measured using a survey and analyzed using nonparametric statistics. On the survey, students who played the Nintendo DS daily reported a more positive attitude towards their teachers, classes, and school than those that did not play the Nintendo DS

Gojin: The Five Gods, A Location Based Mobile Game for Tourism

Gojin is a mobile location-based game for English-speaking tourists visiting Kyoto, Japan. The goal of the game is to provide assistance in traveling between famous cultural landmarks and educate players about the location and culture. This is done while still maintaining the enjoyment of game content itself. In this paper, we discuss the design process we followed, from the inspirations for the designs and art, to the technical implementation of each section

Pre-test session impact on the effectiveness assessment of a fire safety game

In recent years, critiques have been formulated regarding current evaluation methods of DGBL (digital game-based learning) effectiveness, putting the validity of certain results in doubt. An important point of discussion in DGBL effectiveness studies is whether or not a pre-test should be administered, as it can lead to practice effects and pre-test sensitization, threatening internal validity of the results. The present study aims at testing if the administration of a pre-test has a direct influence on post-test scores and/or makes participants more receptive to the intervention. For this purpose, an effectiveness study of a fire safety training in a hospital was conducted using a Solomon four-group design. The experimental groups received a game-based intervention (n= 65) of which 34 participants received a pre-test and 31 did not. The control groups received traditional classroom instruction (n=68), of which 39 participants received a pre-test and 29 did not. A 2x2 ANOVA was used to explore the practice effect and the interaction between the pre-test and the intervention. An interaction effect between pre-test and intervention is detected. More specifically, this interaction takes place in the traditional classroom group, indicating pre-test sensitization. In the traditional classroom context, the pre-test makes the participants more sensitive to the content treated in the intervention while administration of a pre-test does not influence outcomes of the DGBL treatment. When the administration of a pre-test influences the control group's receptivity to the treatment, but not the experimental group, results of an effectiveness study may be biased. This is especially relevant in the DGBL field as often, non-significant differences between DGBL and more traditional methods are reported. Therefore, further research should take this into account and look for possible solutions to solve this discrepancy