The Landscape of Misinformation Literacy Games: A Systematic Mapping Review of Game Designs and Evaluation Practices

This systematic mapping review examines 54 gamified interventions aimed at combating misinformation. We analyze the theoretical frameworks, game design, and media contexts of academic and non-academic games. The results indicate a field dominated by web-based simulations and trivia formats. While psychological inoculation is a prominent theoretical framework in the field, most interventions prioritize content-discernment tasks over proactive prebunking strategies. We identify systematic gaps in the identified games. Current interventions remain largely text-centric, focusing on news articles and text-based content, despite the growing use of audiovisual content (e.g., short videos) in the digital landscape. We conclude our study by discussing implications for addressing the evolving, multimodal nature of potentially misleading content using gamified interventions.