A Systematic Literature Review of Gamification in/for Cultural Heritage: Leveling up, Going Beyond

Abstract

Because of the possibilities that it opens for a variety of fields and practices, gamification has increasingly garnered significant attention. This has put it at the forefront of many significant debates around its applicability and implications. In the case of its application to cultural heritage, although there is much trailblazing to do, the body of work has been growing and the field is gaining its maturity. As such, this paper aims to take stock of the directions the field has been moving towards—to provide orientation for future work and projects that are yet to be developed. To do this, the paper aims to map out the publications in the field of gamified cultural heritage, by conducting a broader and systematic literature review. The study has found that, with regards to who the main actors with publications in the field are, a prominence of European institutions and networks, namely from Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom, can be observed. Regarding what heritage is being gamified and for what purpose, the study found a prominence of focus on historical, architectural and archeological heritage values and a very significant focus on gamification being used for motivation/engagement and for creativity enhancement. When looking at the gamification design dimensions that are given prevalence, intrinsic motivation seems to be prioritized, and, with regards to the observed target publics, tourists and visitors and seem to prevail in gamified heritage projects, with children as a specific group coming in second. Regarding technologies and tools being used, Mobile Applications, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are particularly prevalent. Regarding mentioned future orientations, the study found that a vast majority of papers are self-contained, both in scope of work and discussion, with most of those that do mention future directions indicating continuation and/or expansion of their specific project.

Playing with the cultural pilgrimage to stimulate tourism: the xFORMAL project on cultural heritage and informal learning.

“…In the field of cultural heritage, gamification is a tool used for a variety of purposes, from marketing for tourism purposes, to the protection of intangible and digital heritage assets, to cases where participatory methods are used to address conflicting or difficult aspects of heritage 52 .…”

Comparing the Impact of Non-Gamified and Gamified Virtual Reality in Digital Twin Virtual Museum Environments: A Case Study of Wieng Yong House Museum, Thailand

“…While direct comparisons in museum settings are scarce, related research in educational and training contexts suggests that gamification can improve learning outcomes compared to virtual reality alone [73][74][75]. Additionally, many studies have reported better knowledge retention with gamification [76][77][78], which could indicate the potential benefits of applying gamification in virtual reality within museum contexts. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that implementing gamification concepts in virtual reality may not always yield more effective learning outcomes.…”

Sustainability in Hybrid Technologies for Heritage Preservation: A Scientometric Study

“…Articles [117][118][119][120][121] are crucial in advancing the theme. These studies particularly emphasize the sustainable aspect of mixed-reality applications in cultural heritage, such as reducing the wear and tear on physical artifacts and sites.…”