Video Games for Impact: Design Projects That Can Change the Way We Think: Volume II

This is the second volume of Video Games for Impact: Design Projects That Can Change the Way We Think (Volume 1: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/57300/video-games-for-impact-design-projects-that-can-change-the-way-we-think).Video games have become a major force for cultural, social, and educational engagement, serving as both creative media and research platforms for addressing societal challenges. Following the foundations laid by prior studies of games for impact, the field now confronts new technological and conceptual turning points. Advances in procedural generation and, more recently, generative AI and machine learning have introduced new forms of automated authorship and adaptive design. At the same time, extended reality (XR) environments such as VR, AR, and mixed reality expand the sensory and spatial dimensions of gameplay, enabling new modes of immersion, empathy, and perspective-taking. These developments bring both opportunity and complexity: questions of authorship, ethics, bias, and validity grow more urgent as design processes become increasingly automated and player experiences increasingly personalized.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how impact can be conceived, designed, and evaluated within this changing landscape. It invites theoretical, empirical, and design-based investigations into the ways AI-assisted creativity, adaptive gameplay, and immersive technologies can shape social, cultural, and educational outcomes. Contributors are encouraged to explore intersections between authored and generative design, between persuasion and player agency, and between human creativity and algorithmic processes. Central questions include: How can deliberate authored intent align with adaptive systems? What ethical frameworks are needed for persuasive design when content evolves in real time? And how can impact—emotional, cognitive, or behavioral—be rigorously measured across dynamic, individualized experiences?To gather further insights into these evolving practices, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Authored serious and educational games grounded in persuasive or purposeful design- Procedural generation, generative AI, and machine learning in the creation of adaptive or personalized experiences- Immersive and XR game design for social, educational, and cultural outcomes- Inclusion, accessibility, and representation as dimensions of impact- Co-design and community-driven approaches to game development- Ethical issues surrounding authorship, bias, consent, player data, and the potential for manipulation or propaganda in persuasive systems- Methodological and computational advances in evaluating impact, including mixed methods, analytics, and biometric measures- Critical reflections on empathy, embodiment, and the societal consequences of designing for impact Topic editors: Anastasios Theodoropoulos, Iro Voulgari, Manolis Wallace, Kostas Karpouzis, Angeliki Antoniou, Elina Roinioti Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83158/video-games-for-impact-design-projects-that-can-change-the-way-we-think-volume-ii