Abstract
Games are particularly relevant for field research in agriculture, where alternative experimental designs can be costly and unfeasible. Games are also popular for non-experimental purposes such as recreating learning experiences and facilitating dialogue with local communities. After a systematic review of the literature, we found that the volume of published studies employing coordination and cooperation games increased during the 2000–2020 period. In recent years, more attention has been given to the areas of natural resource management, conservation, and ecology, particularly in regions important to agricultural sustainability. Other games, such as trust and risk games, have come to be regarded as standards of artefactual and framed field experiments in agriculture. Regardless of their scope, most games’ results are subject to criticism for their internal and external validity. In particular, a significant portion of the games reviewed here reveal recruitment biases towards women and provide few opportunities for continued impact assessment. However, games’ validity should be judged on a case-by-case basis. Specific cultural aspects of games might reflect the real context, and generalizing games’ conclusions to different settings is often constrained by cost and utility. Overall, games in agriculture could benefit from more significant, frequent, and inclusive experiments and data—all possibilities offered by digital technology. Present-day physical distance restrictions may accelerate this shift. New technologies and engaging mediums to approach farmers might present a turning point for integrating experimental and non-experimental games for agriculture in the 21st century.
Highlights
A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict or problem, defined by rules, resulting in a quantifiable outcome [1]
Half of these experimental games were classified as artefactual field experiments while the other half corresponded to framed field experiments
We found relatively fewer studies with games conducted in North America, Europe or Australia, but there was a steady increase in the use of games in those regions after 2010
Summary
A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict or problem, defined by rules, resulting in a quantifiable outcome [1]. Games in agriculture fieldwork are designed to test hypotheses, simulate a situation to educate and recreate an experience, or both. Games with experimental and non-experimental purposes are critical in agriculture to understand how individuals process information and make decisions. Field experiments in the form of games are. Such studies allow scientists to empirically measure the parameters of theoretical models and lend behavioral insights to policy making discussions [2]. Experimental games are a useful medium of research because they allow scientists to study how context can affect participant behavior, and, unlike observational studies, to construct proper counterfactuals to understand behaviors and social preferences [3,4]. Greater attention to context does not mean, that experimental games do not have shortfalls. One of the major concerns with such methods is how results generalize to other contexts and populations—that is, whether they have adequate external validity [3,5,6]
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