Objective Stories can serve as powerful tools for health interventions. Story immersion refers to the experience of being absorbed in a story. This is among the first studies to analyze story immersion’s role in health videogames among children by addressing two main questions: Will children be more immersed when the main characters are similar to them? Do increased levels of immersion relate to more positive health outcomes? Subjects and Methods Eighty-seven 10–12-year-old African-American, Caucasian, and Hispanic children from Houston, TX, played a health videogame, “Escape from Diab” (Archimage, Houston, TX), featuring a protagonist with both African-American and Hispanic phenotypic features. Children’s demographic information, immersion, and health outcomes (i.e., preference, motivation, and self-efficacy) were recorded and then correlated and analyzed. Results African-American and Hispanic participants reported higher immersion scores than Caucasian participants (P = 0.01). Story immersion correlated positively (P values < 0.03) with an increase in Fruit and Vegetable Preference (r = 0.27), Intrinsic Motivation for Water (r = 0.29), Vegetable Self-Efficacy (r = 0.24), and Physical Activity Self-Efficacy (r = 0.32). Conclusion Ethnic similarity between videogame characters and players enhanced immersion and several health outcomes. Effectively embedding characters with similar phenotypic features to the target population in interactive health videogame narratives may be important when motivating children to adopt obesity prevention behaviors.

Paucity of studies about digital games for CVD SM behaviors precludes the need to undertake a full systematic review. Future studies examining digital games should include larger sample sizes, longer durations, game-design guided by behavioral change theoretical frameworks, and CVD SM behaviors in addition to physical activity behaviors.

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Objectives: In older persons with heart failure (HF), an inability to self-manage their disease condition can result in poor health outcomes and quality of life. With the rise in smartphone use and digital game playing among older adults, digital tools such as sensor-controlled digital games (SCDGs) can offer accessible healthpromoting tools that are enjoyable and easy to use. However, designing SCDGs that are compelling and aligned with their life values and self-management needs can be challenging. This article describes a qualitative study with older adults with HF who were recruited from a cardiac rehabilitation laboratory in central Texas to identify their perceptions and expectations regarding a SCDG for HF self-management. Materials and Methods: A low-fidelity prototype that demonstrated the features of a SCDG was used to obtain the participants' perceptions about the value of SCDGs for HF self-management with respect to content, customization, flexibility, and usability through qualitative interviews. Results: We interviewed 15 patients with HF (53% women; age range, 53-90 years; 60% white). The concept of SCDGs for HF self-management was highly acceptable (80%). Participants provided suggestions for game characters, progress in the game, and game notifications and incentives. Perceived benefits included helping users track their behaviors and establish routines, become informed on strategies to manage HF, and empower themselves to take charge of their health. Conclusions: The study's findings will guide personalization of SCDG development to motivate patient engagement in HF self-management behaviors.