Videogames are persuasive tools that can direct players’ pro-environmental attitudes. However, there is limited understanding of their impacts on attitudes in a climate-themed context. With a focus on message design and framing, this paper investigated the role and significance of videogames in climate communication. We conducted two parallel within-subjects experiments using two climate-themed games, Beyond Blue (N=36) and Plasticity (N=37), to examine the effects of persuasive game design in directing attitudes. We found that, regardless of message design, both games increased players’ cognitive attitudes after gameplay. We also found that Plasticity’s multi-layered message design (central loss-frame with a potential hopeful ending) increased short-term awareness of the climate-change threat and long-term hope for dealing with the issue, balancing fear and empowerment and emphasising the intricacies of message framing. By demonstrating the efficacy of persuasive design and environmental message framing in gameful interventions using explicit and implicit measures, our paper contributes to the application of interactive technology for effective climate-change communication in the short and long-term. • Videogames can be persuasive tools in climate communication through message framing. • Environmental message framing in games can influence cognitive attitudes. • Subtleties of message framing in videogames can affect the reach of the impact. • Mixed message designs can enhance game-based climate communication outcomes.

Videogames are an innovative and promising arena in climate communication, but there is limited understanding of how their design can contribute to this field. Improving this knowledge can help designers create appealing and effective ecogames. In a repeated measures design, we conducted a qualitative interventional study ($\mathrm{N}=34$). In a series of interviews (short-term) and descriptive surveys (long-term), we examined how, and to what extent, a commercial eco-game (Beyond Blue, 2020) can influence participants’ environmental attitudes, biocentric awareness, and eco-motivation. Participants shared their experience of Beyond Blue’s gameplay, as well as their opinions on how to improve it and develop successful eco-games. We found that ecogames can be effective in illustrating and envisioning different ecological setups and constructing a link between people and the environment. Our findings produce design recommendations for eco-games and shed light on how enhancing the interactivity of game mechanics, persuasiveness of the narrative, immersive realism of the animation, and theme-appropriate framing can aid in conveying environmental messages. We highlight choice-driven and customisable gameplay as efficient ways to improve eco-games.

Videogames have the capacity to change people’s attitudes by engaging players with interactive gameplay, persuasive narratives, and immersive simulated realities. We present a framework that targets attitudinal evaluation in game design by describing how game mechanics, narrative, and animation features form player experiences that influence attitudes. To test this framework, we conducted an interventional study (N=36) using a repeated measures design that tested the effects of a climate-themed simulation game, Beyond Blue, on players’ explicit and implicit pro-environmental attitudes in both the short and long term. We also measured the effects of feature-based design (mechanics, narrative, and animation) and elemental design on attitudes. Our results showed that the climate-themed intervention impacted participants’ short-term cognitive attitudes. We also found that Beyond Blue’s overall mechanics and narrative features were the main significant predictors of pro-environmental cognitive attitudes. Challenge design was the only significant element that predicted participants’ cognitive attitudes. Our results demonstrate that climate communication can benefit from a carefully designed theme-oriented videogame as an effective creative tool.

Videogames can be persuasive assets in climate communication. However, there is insufficient knowledge on how to employ specific game design aspects to influence attitudes in the context of climate change. We developed a novel conceptual Climate-Oriented Persuasive Edutainment (C.O.P.E.) model to describe how game design features and elements wrapped in a climate-themed message frame can contribute to pro-environmental attitudes. We evaluated the design decisions in a loss-framed climate-themed videogame (Plasticity) as our case study. In a repeated measures interventional experiment (N=37), we examined the effects of Plasticity on players’ explicit and implicit pro-environmental attitudes in the short and long term. We also assessed participants’ experiences of the attitudinal capacity of three features of game design (mechanics, narrative, animation) and their relevant elements. We found that playing Plasticity influenced participants’ threat perception and cognitive attitudes in the short term. The overall mechanics and narrative features were predictors of participants’ climate threat perception, while the overall animation design predicted pro-environmental cognitive attitude. The storyline was the only element that predicted both threat perception and cognitive attitude. Also, the challenge design predicted threat perception and the exploration design predicted cognitive attitudes. Our work shows that a theme-pertinent, detail-oriented game design can be effective in enhancing climate communication.

Heuristics present a cheap and effective way of evaluating usability. However, in video games, evaluating unique player experiences that are dependent on individual preferences and abilities presents a challenge that goes beyond usability. Video games are more than just functional software, so games heuristics have been adapted to help examine functionality and experience. This paper reports on how papers published in the ACM Digital Library between 2012 and 2022 develop and apply heuristics in video games research. We found that heuristics are often used outside their intended purpose of being used in an expert evaluation. Instead, they are used as survey instruments, interview guides, codes for thematic analysis, and as design guidelines. This research contributes to HCI and video games research by distinguishing the terms design guidelines and design principles from heuristics. We make recommendations for researchers around developing heuristics and conducting video game heuristic evaluations. We propose a method for operationalising heuristics and make recommendations for the implementation of heuristics to improve the quality of video game heuristic reviews.