State-of-the-art in climate resilience gamification for coastal environments: a systematic literature review

Abstract Gamification has emerged as a promising tool for education and awareness-raising in the context of climate adaptation, but we lack a clear understanding of its topical and geographical reach, as well as its effectiveness. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the state of the art, we conducted a systematic literature review of 40 studies addressing sea level rise; flooding resulting from sea level rise or extreme weather events; and transformations in urban geography through adaptative policies in response to climate change. The findings indicate a steady growth in this area of research over the past decade. The reviewed interventions—primarily oriented toward fostering learning related to adaptative behaviors or directly aimed at behavioral change—have generally yielded positive outcomes. Specifically, gamification has been shown to enhance participants’ sense of accomplishment, promote social interaction, and create immersive learning environments. However, we also identified limitations in terms of intervention context, design, measured outcomes, and methodology. In response to these, we propose a set of recommendations for future research in this field. Among them, we highlight the importance of developing and deploying gamified experiences in emerging economies that are particularly vulnerable to climate risk; promoting social dynamics within digital interventions, thereby enhancing collective awareness and cooperation; considering the affective dimension of engagement within experimental designs by capturing emotional responses and their influence on behavior; and deepening and broadening the scope of results by grounding the studies’ execution and reporting more firmly on critical self-reflection and transparency.