Erik von Wangenheim, Eduardo Napoleão, Giorgio Gilwan da Silva, Tiago Vinícius Ficagna, Anita Maria da Rocha Fernandes
ABSTRACT:
One of the greatest challenges for sustainability lies in society’s lack of awareness. Educational games may offer an effective and engaging strategy to bridge this gap, efficiently making complex subjects accessible and driving conscious behaviour. Aiming at a systematic mapping of non-digital games that teach sustainability, the objective of this article is to provide an overview of the state of the art and the factors that influence the quality in terms of learning and player experience. We encountered 10 games on a variety of sustainability themes with diverse characteristics. Most are board games, yet they vary regarding the number of players, the duration, objectives, and mechanics. Although most of these games have been evaluated using a case study or quasi experiments, some lack scientific rigour, not using a well-defined evaluation model with small sample sizes, overlooking crucial factors. Consequently, more rigorous evaluations are necessary to assist game creators in understanding what factors improve the ability of these games to teach sustainability.
KEY WORDS:
environmental education, game design, non-digital game, sustainability.
DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2025-8-2.20-42
HOW TO CITE:
von Wangenheim, E., Napoleão, E., da Silva, G. G., Ficagna, T. V., & da Rocha Fernandes, A. M. (2025). Systematic mapping of non-digital games for teaching sustainability. Acta Ludologica, 8(2), 20–42. http://doi.org/10.34135/actaludologica.2025-8-2.20-42
Systematic Mapping of Non-Digital Games for Teaching Sustainability © 2025 by Erik von Wangenheim, Eduardo Napoleão, Giorgio Gilwan da Silva, Tiago Vinícius Ficagna, Anita Maria da Rocha Fernandes is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
