This study explores the development and evaluation of the Infinity Masters Board Game, a hybrid digital board game designed to enhance arithmetic proficiency, critical thinking, and strategic planning skills among computer students. Employing the system development life cycle (SDLC), specifically the rapid application development (RAD) model, the game was developed to provide engaging, secure, and interactive learning experiences. It integrates innovative features such as an “infinity piece,” strategic turn‐based gameplay, and modules for real‐time scoring, matchmaking, and user authentication. A total of 319 respondents from five campuses of North Eastern Mindanao State University (NEMSU) participated in the study. Using a 5‐point Likert scale, the game was assessed across seven software quality attributes: functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, portability, security, and compatibility. Results revealed a moderately acceptable rating in all dimensions, with strong positive responses particularly in functionality (4.51) and compatibility (4.51). Moreover, the game was rated strongly agree in enhancing arithmetic skills (4.38), critical thinking (4.35), and strategic planning (4.29). While minor issues in data processing and connectivity were noted, the game’s overall performance suggests its potential as a practical educational tool. Its replayability, adaptability, and accessibility both online and offline also support sustained engagement and learning retention. This study recommends the game’s integration in educational contexts and future improvements based on user feedback.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can create icons, skins, and camouflages for games. An optimal implementation of such a concept might provide new and more advanced features that benefit the user experience. This project investigates the use of an evolutionary algorithm for texture generation and allows users to choose and manipulate camouflage patterns. This enables users to create camouflage patterns that could theoretically be implemented in a video game. This study is supported by user testing to gather insight into usability and the users’ ability to replicate a target pattern. The result is an evaluation of gathered data showing user tendencies and how they engage with the system. These tendencies include significantly different completion times for target patterns varying in complexity. Additionally, participants mostly agreed that the tool is helpful for future games and objects other than camouflage skins. The findings suggest potential applications for AI in enhancing user customization and design flexibility. Further research is needed to address technical limitations and explore broader game industry implications. A brief introduction to the system described in this paper was published as a short paper in the IEEE Conference on Game (CoG) (Ploug et al. 2024).

Objective: This study is aimed at assessing the impact of a 1‐month exergaming intervention ( Fitness Boxing 2: rhythm and exercise ), performed for 150 min per week, on blood glucose levels, strength, and body composition in sedentary office workers with overweight or obesity. Methods: Then, 21 sedentary participants (age: 38.0 ± 7.5 years, BMI: 30.8 ± 4.9 kg/m 2 ) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group ( n = 11; 4 men and 7 women) or a control group ( n = 10; 2 men and 8 women). The experimental group completed 20 sessions, each consisting of 30 min of exergaming, 5 days per week. The control group was instructed to maintain their usual daily activities. Before and after the intervention, blood glucose, strength, and body composition were measured. Results: The average daily energy expenditure was 330.7 ± 86.9 kcal, with a maximum perceived effort of 12.7 ± 1.8 arbitrary units. An interaction effect between group and time was found in the experimental group in blood glucose ( % Δ = −7.8; p = 0.027; d = 0.590), grip strength of the nondominant hand ( % Δ = 14.1; p = 0.006; d = 0.383), and back–leg–chest strength ( % Δ = 41.5; p = 0.001; d = 0.662). No differences were found in any of the outcome variables of interest for the control group over time (pre vs. post; p > 0.05). Additionally, no differences in groups (experimental vs. control) and time (pre vs. post) were yielded for weight and body composition. Conclusion: The results of this work demonstrate that engagement with exergames can improve blood glucose and strength in sedentary office workers with overweight or obesity.

This study is aimed at developing and validating a measurement scale for motivations behind in‐game purchases, integrating economic and psychological aspects. Two separate samples of Italian gamers were used to develop a five‐factor scale (utility, enjoyment, investment, reputation, and self‐realization) capable of explaining a substantial portion of in‐game spending behavior. In the first study, 573 gamers were recruited, and an initial four‐factor scale measuring psychological motivations behind in‐game purchases was internally and externally validated, explaining 5.4% of the variance in in‐game purchases. In the second study, conducted with 284 gamers, the self‐realization factor was added, increasing the scale’s explanatory power to 8% for the amount of money spent on in‐game purchases. When controlling for variability attributed to the game type (i.e., analyzing just participants who spent money over a specific game), we observed an increase in the explanatory power of the scale from 5.4% to 12% for the initial four‐factor model in Study 1 and from 8% to 27.5% for the evolved five‐factor model in Study 2. The results indicate that gamers who purchase virtual items are driven by diverse psychological motivations that play a critical role in their spending behavior. This study provides a tool for identifying risk factors for potentially problematic purchase behaviors and offers insights for game developers and marketing professionals interested in optimizing user engagement strategies.

Background: Role‐playing games (RPGs) have long attracted scholars because of their interactive and immersive attributes. The areas of studies on RPGs are various, from computer science to sociology and psychology. Nevertheless, there is a notable absence of comprehensive systematic literature that traces the trends, changes, and developments in RPG research. Purpose: This paper is aimed at undertaking a systematic review of RPG research by analyzing the Scopus database, covering the period from 1986 to 2023. Method: The analyzed dataset comprises 1152 documents, filtered through the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses) screening method from an initial pool of 2908 data points. This data was subjected to analysis using descriptive statistics and bibliometric techniques to discern trends in RPG research and identify influential documents shaping studies in this domain. Findings: This research systematically analyzes RPG research, providing insights into growth patterns, global interest, and influential contributors. By synthesizing diverse research strands, the study contributes valuable knowledge for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as well as guiding future research in RPGs. Contribution: This research provides valuable insights into the evolving RPG landscape, offering guidance for future research.

With the accelerated development of digital education, traditional online teaching methods face challenges in providing immersive and interactive experiences. This study addresses these challenges by designing a metaverse teaching space architecture, integrating key learning theories to explore its potential in enhancing the quality of online education. This framework has been applied at Zhejiang University (ZJU), developing the “Learning in ZJU” metaverse teaching space, which supports innovative activities such as online teaching and academic seminars. Through questionnaire surveys, SPSS software data analysis, and SWOT analysis, the research shows that the metaverse teaching space significantly enhances immersive learning experiences, student engagement, and richness of instructional resources and promotes collaborative learning among students. Simultaneously, it faces challenges such as technological barriers, the need to enhance teachers’ information literacy, and cybersecurity issues. This study provides a reference for other educational institutions to explore and implement the metaverse teaching space and its applications, highlighting its enormous potential in personalized learning and stimulating students’ interest in learning. In the future, the metaverse teaching space is expected to become a key component of online education, but ongoing attention to technological advancement and educational innovation is necessary to overcome existing challenges.

Games for social impact have the potential to influence children’s attitudes on sensitive topics, such as intractable intergroup conflicts. Changing the hostile perspectives of young people in such conflicts is critical to transforming the conflict. Only a few digital games for social impact that target young children exist, and those had mixed but overall positive results. The Fact Finders game empowers school children to engage with ongoing conflicts (Cyprus war in 1974). To examine its impact on student perceptions of conflicts, researcher‐facilitated interventions involved 144 Greek‐Cypriot students (11–12 years old) in playing the game. The main data source was a questionnaire on how participants perceived intractable conflicts, administered before and after students played the game. The game positively and significantly affected students’ understanding of the credibility of historical sources ( t 143 = −2.42, p = 0.017) and children’s perceptions of multiple perspectives in conflicts ( t 146 = −2.03, p = 0.044). The game did not significantly change children’s perceptions of how history is “constructed” or their views on whether the conflict can be overcome, allowing the two communities to live harmoniously together in the future. The study demonstrated the value of prosocial games in supporting young children’s understanding of historical source credibility and multiple perspectives. At the same time, it highlighted the unsolved challenge of how to influence children affected by a war conflict toward a peaceful solution to the conflict. Design guidelines and instructional implications are provided for prosocial games that support multiperspectivity.

This study employs machine learning to assess the relative impact of major platforms—Steam, Twitch, and Metacritic—on video game revenue. Through an integrated analysis of three comprehensive datasets comprising commercially successful titles on Steam, key predictors of financial performance were identified. My analysis establishes Steam‐derived metrics as primary revenue drivers, with follower counts, peak concurrent users (peak CCU), and total reviews exhibiting the strongest predictive power and positive correlation with game earnings. Steam follower counts serve as a significant prelaunch indicator. Further analysis reveals game attributes like Early Access participation generate substantial revenue benefits, while supported languages, genres, and multiplayer features show comparatively weaker effects. Beyond Steam, both Twitch metrics (peak viewers/channels) and Metacritic critic scores exhibit significant positive revenue relationships. This association provides evidence that critical reception and livestreaming visibility collectively substantiate their roles in shaping player behavior to drive game revenue growth. These findings offer actionable insights for developers: prioritize Steam player engagement, supplemented by strategic Twitch marketing and Metacritic outreach. As the first integrated cross‐platform analysis in gaming economics, this research provides a foundation for exploring multiplatform dynamics.

The widespreadness of video games, particularly among digital natives, requires ongoing exploration of their profound effects. This study aligns with this need, investigating video games as possible tools for positive societal influence and exploring their potential to address sensitive social issues. Transportation theory underscores the transformative potential of video games, casting players as “travellers” who, traversing stages of reality dissolution, emotional connection, and altered return, present a pathway for attitude transformation. Participants (N=98) engaged with “Survival,” “Paper, Please,” and “Against All Odds” to explore the effectiveness of video games in addressing the refugee crisis, increasing awareness of the issue at hand, changing perceptions, and encouraging them to take action in real life. The study’s results align with integrated threat theory, revealing that immersive gaming experiences can induce significant changes in attitudes, decrease denial, and increase empathy. The results highlight the potential of video games to educate people about pressing global issues and invoke empathy without trivialising problems. Consequently, while this study extends the current body of knowledge, it offers some promising directions for further research to validate the affirmative impact of video games in this realm.