Table 2 General characteristics and methodology of the selected studies.

Alsaleh & Alnanih (2020)

Saudi Arabia

N = 20 children (6–12 years old)

n CG = 10

n EG = 10

- Children with diabetes mellitus

- They played the game without watching the educational video

- They played the game after watching the video that presents the nutrients that the body needs, along with the right food to be eaten

Cates et al. (2020) USA

N = 47 dyads (parents and preteens, 11–12 years old).

n CG: 26

n EG: 21

- Sexual Health Education (Human Papillomavirus Vaccination)

- Without a video game

- “Land of Secret Gardens” video game designed to educate preteens about HPV infection and HPV vaccination and to promote conversations with parents and providers and the decision to vaccinate

González et al. (2015) Spain

N = 24 children (8–12 years old)

n CG = 10–15

n EG = 10–15

- Children with overweight or obesity

- Intervention:

1. Group sessions (90 min, twice a week), training (30 min), motor games (40 min), and TANGO-H active video game (20 min) twice a week

2. Individual sessions for children at home (45 min, twice a week), Wii Fit Plus video game (30 min) and collaborative multiplayer online video game (“Pirate Island”, 15 min)

3. Family training (90 min)

Goyal et al. (2017) Canada

N = 92 adolescents (11–16 years old) with type 1 diabetes

- n CG = 46

- n EG = 46

- Type 1 Diabetes

- Any study-related hardware. Usual treatment

- Bant app, a OneTouch Ultra Mini blood glucose metre, and a Bluetooth adapter allowed for wireless data transmission from the blood glucose metre to bant

Haruna et al. (2018)

United Republic of Tanzania

N = 120 adolescent students (11–15 years old)

n CG_TT = 40

n EG_GM = 40

n EG_GBL = 40

- Sexual Health Education

- Traditional Teaching-Control Group (TT): Sexual health education in the classroom (class discussions, group buzzing, group work, and individual assignments)

- Gamification Intervention Group (GM): Sexual health education in a quiz format using computer platforms offline (Moodle) with gamification plugins

- Game-Based Learning Intervention Group (GBL): Sexual health education using computer platforms offline (Moodle)

Jia et al. (2020) USA

N = 271 (high school students)

n CG = 135

n EG = 136

- Correct identification of melanoma

- Traditional education. Commercially available ABCDE pamphlet

- Matching game (they were to identify the correct melanoma image)

Melero-Cañas et al. (2020) Spain

N = 150 students from secondary schools (13–15 years old)

n CG = 37

n EG = 113

- Physical Activity (PA)

- 2 Physical Education lessons per week (9 months) using traditional learning methods

- 2 Physical Education lessons per week (9 months) using hybridisation of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model –TPRS- and gamification strategies

Patricio et al. (2020) Brazil

N = 65 (adolescents 15–19 years old)

n CG = 28

n EG = 37

- Physical activity in overweight adolescent

- Active videogame

- Video games associated with a gamified methodology (they had a challenge in each session, virtual prizes, scoring goals, disputes between groups, advancement of stages) through an application called “Arena de Metis”

Putnam et al. (2018) USA

N = 114 (4–5 years old)

n RAE = Not reported

n SAE = Not reported

n NAE = Not reported

- Healthy eating habits

- RAE: Repeated app-exposure (“D.W.´s Unicorn Adventure”)

- SAE: Single app-exposure (“D.W.´s Unicorn Adventure”)

- NAE: No app-exposure (control group)

Pyky et al. (2017) Finland

N = 496 young people (16–20 years) who attended the conscription for military service

n CG = 163

n EG = 182

- Physical Activity (PA)

- Not access to MOPOrtal

- A novel mobile service (MOPOrtal) with automated, tailored health information, exercise, and physical activity instructions

Ryu et al. (2018) South Korea

N = 69 paediatric patients (4–10 years old) scheduled for elective surgery

n CG = 35

n EG = 34

- Preoperative anxiety

- Conventional mode of education about the preoperative process

- Virtual Reality game where the patient experienced the preoperative process using a three-dimensional virtual environment since first-person perspective (during 5 minutes)

Stapinski et al. (2018) Australia

N = 281 (school students 14–16 years old)

n CG = 133

n EG = 148

- Drug education

- Booklet about four drugs (25 min)

- They played the videogame “Pure Rush” (10 min) + Booklet about four drugs (15 min)

Vepsäläinen et al. (2022) Finland

N = 221 pre-schoolers (3 to 6 years old)

n CG = 115

n EG = 106

- Fruit and Vegetable (FV) Consumption

- Regular routine in the early childhood education and care centres (ECECs)

- Using a food (fruit and vegetables) behaviour and mobile education app (Mole´s Veggie Adventures mobile app) in early childhood education and care centres (ECECs) settings

Wengreen et al. (2021) USA

N = 1829 children (5–11 years old) in kindergarten (2016–2017 and 2017–18 school years)

n CG = 353 and 625

n EG = 326 and 555

- Fruit and Vegetable (FV) Consumption

- No intervention was provided

- Field Intensive Trainees—FIT Game—using comic-book formatted episodes filmed throughout lunch

Zolfaghari et al. (2019) Iran

N = 58 mother and child ( ≤ 6 years old) pairs

n CG = 29

n EG = 29

- Oral Health Promotion

- Simple app (without gamification) to promote oral-health knowledge of mothers (oral hygiene, proper nutrition, fluoride intake, and dental visits)

- Gamified version of the App. Tooth brushing for the child, frequency of tooth brushing, application of toothpaste, daily amount of intake of sugar substances were the elements reinforced. Questions about these topics and a reward system