Gamification - the use of game elements in non-game contexts - represents a promising solution to enhance motivation and engagement in education. Traditional lecture-based teaching has been increasingly viewed as insufficient for effective learning, promoting interest in gamified education to sustain student engagement and foster a positive learning environment. This study presents a comprehensive scientometric literature review on the use of gamification in education, analyzing 9163 manuscripts and over 300,000 references from the Scopus database. Through document co-citation analysis, author co-citation analysis, and keyword co-occurrence analysis, the review identifies the most influential publications, authors, and research trends shaping the field. The findings reveal a research trend that initially focused on game design and best practices but has shifted towards systematic literature reviews and evaluations of gamification's educational effectiveness. Six key research clusters emerged: gamified learning experience, student learning, K-12 education, science education, gamification effectiveness, and gaming elements. The study highlights the growing application of gamification in STEM and formal K-12 education, as well as the increasing relevance of online and personalized learning environments. The review also emphasizes significant research gaps, particularly concerning the long-term impact of gamification, the isolated effects of individual game elements, and the need for improved research methodologies. This review offers a research agenda for future studies, calling for more rigorous, context-sensitive research that better addresses the complexity of gamified learning environments.

The increasing need to address climate change has intensified efforts to promote green transportation options, such as cycling and public transit. Over the past few decades, gamification-the integration of game-like elements into non-game contexts to motivate and engage people in adopting new behaviors-has emerged as a strategy to encourage the use of sustainable transportation. This literature review examines how gamification has been used to drive the adoption of green transportation. Following the PRISMA methodology, 49 documents were initially screened, leading to a final selection of 14 papers. We analyze the stakeholders involved, the game elements, the external rewards (e.g., financial incentives), and persuasive strategies employed, and the overall effectiveness of these initiatives both in the short and in the long term. We also explore the relationship between game elements and persuasive approaches, offering insights into how they are related. Finally, we propose a research agenda that emphasizes the exploration of different game elements and the need for a multidisciplinary approach to designing gameful systems that promote sustainable behaviors.

Modeling is an essential and challenging activity in any engineering environment. It implies some hard-to-train skills such as abstraction and communication. Teachers, project leaders, and tool vendors have a hard time teaching or training their students, co-workers, or users. Gamification refers to the exploitation of gaming mechanisms for serious purposes, like promoting behavioral changes, soliciting participation and engagement in activities, etc. We investigate the introduction of gaming mechanisms in modeling tasks with the primary goal of supporting learning/training. The result has been the realization of a gamified modeling environment named PapyGame. In this article, we present the approach adopted for PapyGame implementation, the details on the gamification elements involved, and the derived conceptual architecture required for applying gamification in any modeling environment. Moreover, to demonstrate the benefits of using PapyGame for learning/training modeling, a set of user experience evaluations have been conducted. Correspondingly, we report the obtained results together with a set of future challenges we consider as critical to make gamified modeling a more effective education/training approach.

Gamification is a widely used approach in education to boost motivation and facilitate effective learning outcomes. However, its application to sensitive topics remains relatively unexplored. This paper presents the initial steps in designing a gamified educational platform specifically targeting awareness of gender-based violence among youth. The paper outlines the design considerations undertaken for the platform’s development, drawing from theories in social psychology, education, and gamification. By examining insights gathered through stakeholder interviews and initial involvement emerging key aspects of the platform’s design are then discussed. The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding and use of gamification in addressing sensitive topics in education.

Gamification, commonly described as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, is frequently adopted to enhance users' motivation, engagement, and happiness while supporting them in reaching different objectives, related to learning activities and behavioral changes. Despite being a widely used approach, several studies show that the final outcomes following gamification use are not always positive. To face this problem, we developed a tool called GamiDOC composed of different features aimed at facing the existing problems in the gameful systems design process and, at the same time, guiding designers and practitioners in the design and evaluation of gamified solutions. In this paper, we present the elements that make gameful systems design a challenging process, the state of the art in gamification design, and the issues that are still open in the design of gameful systems. Finally, we provide a detailed description of GamiDOC and why the tool stands as a valuable solution to guide users across all the stages of gameful systems design, development, and evaluation. Finally, we present a usability evaluation of GamiDOC and a use-case scenario.

Promoting behavioral change in mobility is essential for sustainable urban development. This study evaluates the effectiveness of gamified challenges in fostering sustainable travel behaviors among high school students and teachers within the High School Challenge (HSC) 2024 campaign in Lecco, Italy. Over a 13-week period, participants tracked their commuting habits via gamified mobile application, Play&Go, that awarded points for sustainable mobility choices and introduced weekly challenges. Using behavioral (GPS-based tracking) and self-report data, we assessed the influence of challenge types, player characteristics (HEXAD Player Types, Big Five traits), and user experience evaluations on participation, retention, and behavior change. The results show that challenges, particularly those based on walking distances and framed as intra-team goals, significantly enhanced user engagement and contributed to improved mobility behaviors during participants’ free time. Compared to the 2023 edition without challenges, the 2024 campaign achieved better retention. HEXAD Player Types were more predictive of user appreciation than Personality Traits, though these effects were more evident in subjective evaluations than actual behavior. Overall, findings highlight the importance of tailoring gamified interventions to users’ motivational profiles and structuring challenges around SMART principles. This study contributes to the design of behaviorally informed, scalable solutions for sustainable mobility transitions.