From play to innovation: A systematic review of serious games use in living labs

Living labs have recently emerged as important intermediaries for open innovations, solving social challenges, and enhancing knowledge sharing through participatory approaches. A key attribute of living labs is to bring various stakeholders together for collective activities, such as co-design and co-creation. Ensuring stakeholder motivation and sustained engagement persists as a challenge for living labs. Research reveals that serious games can improve stakeholder engagement in traditionally non-gaming sectors. However, no literature review has been conducted on the use of serious games in the context of living lab innovations. This study addresses the gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the existing applications of serious games within living lab settings for open innovations. Two scientific databases were searched in December 2024, resulting in a review of 29 relevant studies. The analysis reveals that (a) the leading sectors adopting serious games in living labs are education, environmental management, mobility, health, and energy; (b) geogames, simulation games, behavlet games, social-serious games, and exergames are the most applied types across various living lab themes; (c) through the innovation process, serious games are most often implemented during stakeholder integration and co-design phases, leveraging game characteristics such as challenges, goals, multi-players, and competition. This review highlights both the benefits and limitations of employing serious games for innovations in living labs, offering practical guidance for innovation researchers and game developers in selecting appropriate serious games for different living lab activities and game development.