Facing the increasingly serious ageing problem, IT technology is being applied more and more to alleviate the increasing health demands of the elderly. Virtual reality (VR) games, in particular, have been shown to benefit the physical and mental health of the elderly. However, almost all consumer-level VR games address the general user, not considering the characteristics of the elderly, such as their particular needs regarding cognitive aspects and safety. In addition, the existing VR rowing games’ research typically focuses on athlete training or is based on a rowing machine. Extending on previous research, this paper proposes a conceptual design of a VR rowing game, VRrowing to provide a home exercise game for the elderly which benefits both physical and mental health. This research first analysed the relevant literature and existing VR exercise games for the elderly to find characteristics and their particular needs. Then, following design principles (in exercise games, human–computer interaction, and user interfaces (UIs)) for the elderly, this study proposed a conceptual design of VRrowing through the MDA framework (standing for mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics). The results cover the system architecture, activities and tasks, patterns and roles, mechanics and structures, and UI examples. Based on comprehensive consideration of the results from relevant research and fostering strengths and circumventing weaknesses, VRrowing was designed as a sports game, aimed at the elderly according to their characteristics and needs, which fills the void of home VR rowing games for seniors’ exercise. This research has reference value for scientific research or development personnel in VR game applications and evaluations, especially for such games targeting the elderly.

With the continuous development of extended reality (XR), encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), the increasing application of VR, especially combined with game technology in the health area, is trending. Due to this development, academia and industry have rising research and practices focusing on VR exercise game applications and their evaluation. This paper presented a pilot study addressing the comparison of user preferences in using VR exercise games. Eight volunteering participants with VR or rowing experience were involved in the pilot study. Their responses on using different postures (standing or sitting), display devices (VR or a large screen), and game tasks (collect coins vs distance travelled) were explored, as well as feedback suggestions for the study and VR games. The pilot study revealed the opportunities and challenges to enhance the VR exercise games, user experience, and performance. It tested the feasibility and duration of each session and potential improvements that could be made for the main experiment, including the instructions, game environments, process, devices, data gathering, and analysis methods.