Towards Development of Innovative Software Platform for Serious Educational Games with Creative Visualization in Selected Eco-context

Authors

  • Detelin Luchev Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Maxim Goynov Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Radoslav Pavlov Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Mariya Monova-Zheleva Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria; Burgas Free University, 62, San Stefano Str., 8001, Burgas, Bulgaria
  • Yanislav Zhelev Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria; Burgas Free University, 62, San Stefano Str., 8001, Burgas, Bulgaria
  • Lilia Pavlova Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Svetla Dalakchieva Burgas State University “Prof. dr. Asen Zlatarov”, 1, Prof. Yakim Yakimov Blvd., 8010, Burgas, Bulgaria
  • Desislava Paneva-Marinova Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Gita Senka Latvian College of Culture at Latvian Academy of Culture, 57, Bruninieku Str., Riga, Latvia
  • Konstantin Rangochev Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 8, G. Bonchev Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55630/dipp.2025.15.15

Keywords:

Serious Educational Games, Game-based Learning, Environmental Education, Platform for Serious Games Development, Learning (Game) Scenarios, Creative Visualization, Green and Digital Technologies. 160

Abstract

The application of new digital technologies for a sustainable society has a long-term effect on the environment and the quality of life of present and future generations. Achieving sustainable natural resource management through modern digital technologies starts with awareness raising and education. It is imperative to develop innovative digital solutions with high added value and educational initiatives that equip the younger generation to become responsible environmental stewards. In the frame of ProNature project in 2024, the development of an innovative software platform for serious educational games with creative visualization to build competence on natural ecosystems, responsible management of natural resources and environmental protection, started. With the built software platform and based on created educational game scenarios, demonstration serious educational games with creative visualization will be created in a selected eco-context. This paper targets the design and development of the Pro- Nature platform, highlighting its modular architecture and the role of the game scenario module in facilitating the creation of adaptable and reusable educational games. The paper also discusses several learning scenarios of a serious educational game and their formalization, considering their key role in the development process.

References

Ahmadov, T., Karimov, A., Durst, S., Saarela, M., Gerstlberger, W., Wahl, M. F., & Kärkkäinen, T. (2024). A two-phase systematic literature review on the use of serious games for sustainable environmental education. Interactive Learning Environments, 33 (3), 1945–1966. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2024.2414429

All, A., Castellar, E. P. N., & Van Looy, J. (2016). Assessing the effectiveness of digital game-based learning: Best practices. Computers & Education, 92–93, 90–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.10.007

Bertacchini, E., & Borrione, P. (2012). Virtual worlds, online gaming communities and cultural commons. In E. Bertacchini, G. Bravo, M. Marrelli, & W. Santagata (Eds.), Cultural commons. A new perspective on the production and evolution of cultures (pp. 208–227). https://ssrn.com/abstract=2207053

B-Green-ED project. (2022). https://bgreened.eu/

Boncu, Ș., Candel, O. -S., & Popa, N. L. (2022). Gameful Green: A systematic review on the use of serious computer games and gamified mobile apps to foster pro-environmental information, attitudes and behaviors. Sustainability, 14 (16), 10400. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610400

Caeiro-Rodríguez, M., Manso-Vázquez, M., Lorenzo-Rial, M., Varela, M., Vaz-de- Carvalho, C., Tramonti, M., Meirzhanovich Dochshanov, A., Senka, G., Tsalapata, H., Heidmann, O., Jesmin, T., & Terasmaa, J. (2022). Towards a virtual environment to teach natural resource management based on a virtual city serious game. In Proceedings of the 2022 International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE), Coimbra, Portugal, 17–19 December 2022 (pp. 1–6). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/SIIE56031.2022.9982325

Cerezo-Pizarro, M., Revuelta-Domínguez, F.-I., Guerra-Antequera, J., & Melo- Sánchez, J. (2023). The cultural impact of video games: A systematic review of the literature. Education Sciences, 13 (11), 1116. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111116

Chugh, R., & Turnbull, D. (2023). Gamification in education: A citation network analysis using CitNetExplorer. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15 (2), ep405. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/12863

Dahalan, F., Alias, N., & Shaharom, M. S. N. (2024). Gamification and game based learning for vocational education and training: A systematic literature review. Education and Information Technologies, 29, 1279–1317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11548-w

Flood, S., Cradock-Henry, N. A., Blackett, P., & Edwards, P. (2018). Adaptive and interactive climate futures: Systematic review of ‘serious games’ for engagement and decision-making. Environmental Research Letters, 13 (6), 063005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aac1c6

Goynov, M., Luchev, D., Pavlov, R., Pavlova, L., Monova-Zheleva, M., Zhelev, Y., & Paneva-Marinova, D. (2025). Learning scenarios for serious educational games with creative visualization in natural eco-context. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2025), Porto, Portugal, April 01–03, 2025 (pp. 834–845), Volume 1: ERSe-GEL, SciTePress. https://www.scitepress.org/PublicationsDetail.aspx?ID=j0thPw1cB5s=&t=1

Graser, S., & Böhm, S. (2022). A systematic literature review on technology acceptance research on augmented reality in the field of training and education. In Proceedings of the CENTRIC 2022 The Fifteenth International Conference on Advances in Human oriented and Personalized Mechanisms, Technologies, and Services, Lisbon, Portugal, 16–20 October 2022; Volume 12 (pp. 20–28). IARIA. https://www.thinkmind.org/library/CENTRIC/CENTRIC_2022/centric_2022_1_40_30005.html

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work? — A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 3025–3034). https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2014.377

Karimov, A., Saarela, M., & Kärkkäinen, T. (2024). Serious games in science and mathematics education: A scoping umbrella review. International Journal of Serious Games, 11 (4), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v11i3.765

Knox, A. (2023). Game-based learning design optimized for cognitive load. In D. Cockerham, R. Kaplan-Rakowski, W. Foshay, & M. J. Spector (Eds.), Reimagining education: Studies and stories for effective learning in an evolving digital environment (pp. 239–250). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25102-3_20

Kobari, S. R., Shayeb, S. J., & Dawood, I. K. (2022). The effect of using games in teaching on students’ achievement and motivation. In D. Burgos & S. Affouneh (Eds.), Radical solutions in Palestinian higher education. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology (pp. 29–38). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0101-0_3

Lampropoulos, G., & Kinshuk. (2024). Virtual reality and gamification in education: A systematic review. Educational Technology Research and Development, 72, 1691–1785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10351-3

Lee, L.-K., Wei, X., Chui, K. T., Cheung, S. K. S., Wang, F. L., Fung, Y.-C., Lu, A., Hui, Y. K., Hao, T., U, L. H., & Wu, N.-I. (2024). A systematic review of the design of serious games for innovative learning: Augmented reality, virtual reality, or mixed reality? Electronics, 13 (5), 890. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13050890

Luchev, D., Goynov, M., Pavlov, R., Monova-Zheleva, M., Zhelev, Y., & Pavlova, L. (2024). Innovative approach for serious educational games with creative visualization in selected eco-context. Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, 14, 289–294. https://doi.org/10.55630/dipp.2024.14.28

Mohd, C. K. N. C. K., Mohamad, S. N. M., Sulaiman, H. A., Shahbodin, F., Rahim, N. R., & Aizudin, A. (2023). A review of gamification tools to boost students' motivation and engagement. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, (7), 2771–2782. http://www.jatit.org/volumes/Vol101No7/26Vol101No7.pdf

Nature Project. (2024). http://www.projectnature.eu

Nguyen-Viet, B., & Nguyen-Viet, B. (2025). The synergy of immersion and basic psychological needs satisfaction: Exploring gamification's impact on student engagement and learning outcomes. Acta Psychologica, 252, 104660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104660

Ofosu-Ampong, K. (2020). The shift to gamification in education: A review on dominant issues. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49 (1), 113–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520917629

P K, P., Mittal, A., & Aggarwal, A. (2023). Literature review: Learning through gamebased technology enhances cognitive skills. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8 (4), e01415. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i4.1415

Paneva-Marinova, D., Goynov, M., Luchev, D., Pavlova, L., Márkus, Z. L., Veres, M., Weisz, Z., Szántó, G., & Szkaliczki, T. (2022). Studying Thracian civilization through serious games and storytelling. In O. Bernardes, V. Amorim, & A. Moreira (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Cross-Disciplinary Uses of Gamification in Organizations (pp. 445–466). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-9223-6.ch021

Paneva-Marinova, D., Goynov, M., Pavlova, L., Zlatkov, L., & Luchev, L. (2022). Studying the ancient civilizations on the Balkan Peninsula through serious game and storytelling. In M. E. Auer & T. Tsiatsos (Eds.), New realities, mobile systems and applications (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, Vol. 411, pp. 537–546). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96296-8_48

Pavlov, R., Paneva-Marinova, D., Luchev, D., Zlatkov, L., & Noev, N. (2021). Workshop on new educational applications of digital cultural content. Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, Conference Proceedings,, 341–342. https://doi.org/10.55630/dipp.2021.11.34

ProNature project. (2024). https://pronature-project.math.bas.bg/

Pueyo-Ros, J., Comas, J., Säumel, I., Castellar, J. A. C., Popartan, L. A., Acuña, V., & Corominas, L. (2023). Design of a serious game for participatory planning of naturebased solutions: The experience of the Edible City Game. Nature-Based Solutions,, 100059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2023.100059

Qian, M., & Clark, K. R. (2016). Game-based learning and 21st century skills: A review of recent research. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 50–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.023

Solinska-Nowak, A., Magnuszewski, P., Curl, M., French, A., Keating, A., Mochizuki, J., Liu, W., Mechler, R., Kulakowska, M., & Jarzabek, L. (2018). An overview of serious games for disaster risk management – Prospects and limitations for informing actions to arrest increasing risk. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 31, 1013–1029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.09.001

Sun, L., Lee, B. G., Chieng, D., & Yang, S. (2024). Exploring collaborative immersive virtual reality serious games for enhancing learning motivation in physics education. In 2024 IEEE 48th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC) (pp. 115–120). https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC61105.2024.00026

Tan, C. K. W., & Nurul-Asna, H. (2023). Serious games for environmental education. Integrative Conservation, 2, 19–42. https://doi.org/10.1002/inc3.18

Tene, T., Vique López, D. F., Valverde Aguirre, P. E., Cabezas Oviedo, N. I., Vacacela Gomez, C., & Bellucci, S. (2025). A systematic review of serious games as tools for STEM education. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1432982. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1432982

Tsalapatas, H., Heidmann, O., Senka, G., Jesmin, T., Terasmaa, J., Carvalho, C. V. d., & Caeiro, M. (2023). A digital learning game on building awareness and skills towards natural resources management. In EDULEARN23 Proceedings. 15th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, Palma, Spain, 3– 5 July 2023 (p. 8652). IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2023.1717

Zakrzewski, S., Merrill, E., & Yang, Y. (2025). Can gamification improve children’s performance in mental rotation? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 252, 106169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106169

Zhang, P., Tang, J., & Jeong, E. (2021). A meta-review of gamification research. In K. Toeppe, H. Yan, & S. K. W. Chu (Eds.), Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue. iConference 2021 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 12646, pp. 361–373). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71305-8_30

Zlatkov, L., Paneva-Marinova, D., Luchev, D., Pavlova, L., & Pavlov, R. (2019). Aquae Calidae – Towards a serious game attracting students to ancient civilizations. In ICETM 2019 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Education Technology Management, University of Barcelona, Spain, December 18–20, 2019 (pp. 14–18). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3375900.3375919

Zubair, M. U., Khan, M. A., Hassan, M. U., Ahmed, K., & Aziz, T. (2024). Enhancing student active engagement in class through game-based learning: A case of civil engineering education. Sustainability, 16 (14), 6010. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146010

Downloads

Published

2025-09-05

How to Cite

Luchev, D., Goynov, M., Pavlov, R., Monova-Zheleva, M., Zhelev, Y., Pavlova, L., Dalakchieva, S., Paneva-Marinova, D., Senka, G., & Rangochev, K. (2025). Towards Development of Innovative Software Platform for Serious Educational Games with Creative Visualization in Selected Eco-context. Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, 15, 159–176. https://doi.org/10.55630/dipp.2025.15.15

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>