Staying Motivated During Difficult Times: A State of The Art of Serious Games for Pediatrics Cancer Patient

Research on the use of digital games for cancer patients suggests positive impact in the form of the reduction of the depressive symptoms, anxiety, and the feeling of nausea after chemotherapy treatment, as well as making time moves quickly. The agency in digital games provides learning and selfdevelopment opportunities, while the experience of immersion, flow and presence allow patients to be less aware of their surroundings and the environment of a hospital ward. This can take the child’s focus off their condition and their treatment process and direct it towards other aspects of their childhood.A comprehensive review of the current literature was conducted to assess how serious games could positively impact pediatric cancer patients. Searches were conducted in Scopus, Science Direct, IEEE Explorer, and ACM Digital Library. Inclusion criteria were used during data extraction to find the most relevant literature, including the need for a game prototype to have been developed and for the game to specifically target children with cancer as a target audience. Data were extracted including age ranges, treatment and procedure plan, time context, users, purpose, and technology. A total of twelve unique serious games from the literature were included in the review. This review demonstrates the positive use of serious games as an intervention for pediatric cancer patients that undergo treatment in hospital. The results suggest that the design of these serious games should consider (1) purpose of treatment design; (2) technology used as intervention with child cancer patients; and (2) social connection in game play.