Effective educational interventions require sufficient learner engagement, which can be difficult to achieve if the learner is inadequately motivated. Games have been shown to possess powerful motivators that fuel a person's desire to engage in unattractive activities, such as learning theoretical material. However, to design an educational game that is capable of providing motivated engagement is a challenging task. Previous research has proposed various game motivators and game design principles to alleviate this, but a comprehensive synthesis has yet to appear. In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review that yielded two major contributions: (i) a taxonomy of 56 game motivators in 14 classes; and (ii) a taxonomy of 54 educational game design principles in 13 classes, with linkages to the identified game motivators. As a minor contribution, we have also presented a classification of gamification-related terms and proposed different strategies for applying gamification. The results of this study are available for educational game designers and researchers to use as a practical toolkit for the creation and evaluation of motivating educational games that keep players engaged. Moreover, this study is the first step towards the creation of a unified gamification framework.

Increases in the numbers of obese and overweight children are a major issue in post-industrial societies because obesity can lead to severe health-related problems. In addition, many challenges affect the quantity and quality of physical education (PE) provided by schools. Exergames that combine exercise with gaming have been recognized as a possible method for motivating children to become physically active and to make PE more fun. Furthermore, exergames that utilize wearable sensors devices allow players' movements to be tracked for estimating the efficiency of exercise. In this study, we developed the Running Othello 2 (RO2) exergame, where players wear a smartphone and a smart wrist band to compete in a board game enhanced with physical and pedagogical missions. In physical missions, the game uses inertial sensors and a heart rate meter to detect the physical activities of players. The pedagogical part of the game is based on the South Korean PE curriculum. We evaluated RO2 with 61 South Korean third grade elementary school students, 32 of whom learned curriculum topics by playing the game. The other 29 students comprised a control group who studied the pedagogical content using handouts. The results indicated that learning with RO2 was more efficient, the players were engaged, and their heart rates increased. Based on the evaluation, we identified several issues to be addressed in future research. Finally, we discussed how RO2 supports the educational affordances of wearables and we explained how exergames using wearables can overcome some of the challenges faced by PE.

Augmented reality (AR) has evolved from research projects into mainstream applications that cover diverse fields, such as entertainment, health, business, tourism and education. In particular, AR games, such as Pokémon Go, have contributed to introducing the AR technology to the general public. The proliferation of modern smartphones and tablets with large screens, cameras, and high processing power has ushered in mobile AR applications that can provide context-sensitive content to users whilst freeing them to explore the context. To avoid ambiguity, I define mobile AR as a type of AR where a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) is used to display and interact with virtual content that is overlaid on top of a real-time camera feed of the real world. Beyond being mere entertainment, AR and games have been shown to possess significant affordances for learning. Although previous research has done a decent job of reviewing research on educational AR applications, I identified a need for a comprehensive review on research related to educational mobile AR games (EMARGs). This paper explored the research landscape on EMARGs over the period 2012–2017 through a systematic literature review complemented by two case studies in which the author participated. After a comprehensive literature search and filtering, I analyzed 31 EMARGs from the perspectives of technology, pedagogy, and gaming. Moreover, I presented an analysis of 26 AR platforms that can be used to create mobile AR applications. I then discussed the results in depth and synthesized my interpretations into 13 guidelines for future EMARG developers.

Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) is gaining a strong momentum to become a major interactive technology that can be applied across domains and purposes. The rapid proliferation of MAR applications in global mobile application markets has been fueled by a range of freely-available MAR software development kits and content development tools, some of which enable the creation of MAR applications even without programming skills. Despite the recent advances of MAR technology and tools, there are still many challenges associated with MAR from the User Experience (UX) design perspective. In this study, we first define UX as the emotions that the user encounters while using a service, a product or an application and then explore the recent research on the topic. We present two case studies, a commercial MAR experience and our own Virtual Campus Tour MAR application, and evaluate them from the UX perspective, with a focus on emotions. Next, we synthesize the findings from previous research and the results of the case study evaluations to form sets of challenges, opportunities and best practices related to UX design of MAR applications. Based on the identified best practices, we finally present an updated version of the Virtual Campus Tour. The results can be used for improving UX design of future MAR applications, thus making them emotionally engaging.