Motivational Factors for Mobile Serious Games for Elderly Users

Abstract

D ue to the increasing life expectancy in the world, the number of elderly people is also augmenting. Thus, society will have to offer more and more products and services that meet the specific needs and desires of these people, who seek alternatives for entertainment, social interaction and learning. Serious games are an option to provide them learning combined with entertainment. In Brazil, it is known that a small part of the elderly has access to computers, and that a larger part already uses mobile phones. Therefore, we carried out a survey to identify the features that serious mobile games should have, so that older people could feel pleasure and desire to use them. This survey was based on a literature review and also on a case study with a group of seniors who evaluated five serious games for smart phones. From the data collected we compiled a list of guidelines for developing mobile serious games that meet the needs, interests and motivations of older players.