How to Set the Game Characteristics, Design the Instructional Content and the Didactical Setting for a Serious Game for Health Prevention in the Workplace

Innovating Occupational Safety Training: A Scoping Review on Digital Games and Possible Applications in Agriculture

“…Almost all the studies provided a more or less detailed description of the game: some studies limited the description to the task required to the players, while others provide more details about the objects of interaction and even a wider explanation of the graphic interface adopted [ 23 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. Regarding game assessment, nearly half of the studies evaluated the games in terms of usability, playability, satisfaction and players’ propensity to adopt games as a new safety training method [ 23 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. Other forms of evaluation included training effectiveness through game performance (based on scores and player’s ability to complete levels) [ 37 , 47 , 48 , 52 , 58 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ] or through the comparison between safety game training with traditional training (i.e., performed through lectures, videos and power-point presentations) [ 22 , 23 , 42 , 47 , 51 , 53 ...…”

“…In studies involving novice users, the sample size ranged from 8 to 280 participants, while in studies with expert users, the sample ranged from 3 to 200 participants. Moreover, both novice workers and experts were involved when investigating safety in industrial sectors, mining, firefighters and maritime sector; in addition, experts and workers who hold managerial positions were considered in the aviation and restaurant business [ 56 , 57 , 68 ].…”

“…With concern to the number of players involved, only six studies [ 44 , 54 , 56 , 68 , 75 , 76 ] consider developing the game also as a multiplayer platform, while the other studies refined the game only for single players. However, some studies [ 45 , 47 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 60 , 63 , 64 , 68 , 77 ] also included one or more non-player characters (NPCs), i.e., those characters in a game which are not controlled by the player but by the computer. NPCs characters can be more or less interactive with the player.…”

“…However, in the retained studies, these features were explored only in the research conducted by [45]. Indeed, the design of non-player characters, specific weather conditions and addition of physical elements (e.g., smoke) that are perceived as authentic by the players is a critical success factor in the development of an engaging educational game [56,87], especially when a multiplayer game version is not yet available. Providing the player with interactive choices, the use of symbols and/or dialogue and interactions with NPCs [88] can establish an emotional link between the player, the other characters and the environment [45,87].…”

“…• even though different technological supports (computer, VR and AR) have proved to be effective and satisfactory [22,23,45,47,56], the computer game technology can be detected as the most used and "practicable" one both in terms of ease of use and play rules (e.g., the game could be downloaded and can be played on one's own personal computer) and in terms of costs; • the game may allow the players to look around to become aware of their environment and has to be able to recreate the decision making processes that operators encounter in different hazardous situations, with the aim to improve operators' capability to react to hazards in real situations [43,54,75]; • games should be developed with multiple levels and should be structured with different and increasing levels of difficulty to be more appreciated [47,51,68]; • the game scene needs to be well contextualized within a suitably designed work environment allowing the player to identify specific hazards [43][44][45]71]; • simulated characters (NPCs) should be present since they motivate trainees by being credible, trusting and helpful [37,45,46,56,60];…”