Special Session at Digital Heritage 2025
Serious Games (SGs) have become a valid tool for learning and training in the last few years. Thanks to methodologies and technologies dedicated to the design, authoring, configuration/adaptation and use of SGs, it is possible to design and personalise contents and presentation modalities to the different user needs and preferences. This session aims to explore the maturity and potential of serious games in providing and promoting cultural experiences. The focus is on the relationship between cultural sites or objects and visitors, soliciting particularly games (also table-top) that encourage physical visits and foster interaction between art and people, wisely exploiting technology. Special attention will be given to small and lesser-known cultural venues that have limited budget and non-mainstream resources.
The Serious Games Society (SGS) was created as a reference point for institutions, companies, and professionals involved in researching and developing Serious Games. Its goal is to serve as a central reference point for Serious Games and gamification at the scientific, technological, and professional levels, offering a platform for generating, sharing, and coordinating SG-related research and development activities at both European and international levels. It also publishes the International Journal of Serious Games and organises the annual GALA conference, which brings together the community. With its extensive experience in applying games across various sectors, including Cultural Heritage, SGS is well positioned to contribute to advancing the scientific discussion on games for culture at Digital Heritage 2025.
Theme and Topics
We invite original research papers, case studies, and theoretical contributions on (but not limited to) the following topics related to serious games in the context of cultural heritage (CH SG).
• Case studies on serious games in the cultural heritage domain
• Immersive and multimedia experiences for cultural heritage
• Educational effectiveness of CH SGs
• Methodologies of studying educational effectiveness of CH SGs
• Learning by making games for cultural heritage
• Human-computer interaction for CH SGs (hardware, software)
• Extended reality (XR): augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality
• Modelling and simulation
• Adaptivity and personalization in CH SGs
• Usability of CH SGs
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning for CH SGs
• Computer graphics and visual effects
• Emotions and affective interaction
• Interactive narrative and digital storytelling
• Design and implementation of CH SGs mechanics
• Mapping educational goals, outcomes and principles into CH SGs mechanics
• Inclusive CH SG design and accessibility issues
• Emotional design in CH SGs
• Balancing in CH SGs (e.g., realism, engagement, learning, and entertainment)
• Collaboration and cooperation aspects in CH SGs
• Gamifying Cultural Heritage approaches
• User studies applying serious games in training cultural professionals
• Understanding how, when, with whom, for what to use CHSGs
• Usability studies for CHSGs.
• CH SGs for behavioral change
• Analogue games and game design
• Interactive narrative and digital storytelling
• Cultural context of serious games and play
• Representation in CH SGs and play
• Practice based research and creative methods
Submission Guidelines
Types of contributions:
* Full (10-pages incl. bibliography) for high standing scientific results and longer oral communication at the conference.
* Short (4-pages incl. bibliography) for ongoing research and shorter oral communication at the conference.
Conference proceedings are published in Open Access on the EG Digital library.
Latex and Word templates can be found here: latex, word
More info can be found on the Digital Heritage 2025 conference website: https://digitalheritage2025.unisi.it/call-for-paper/
All papers will have a blind peer review by the International Programme Committee (IPC). The IPC seeks for every submission at least one “serious games” and one “cultural heritage” reviewer to ensure a rich diversity of accepted works. All submissions will be reviewed for originality, significance, clarity, impact, and soundness. Author registration and contributions submissions are accepted SOLELY through the official conference platform OpenReview, accessible starting from February the 10th. 2025 (https://digitalheritage2025.unisi.it/call-for-paper/).
The best paper will be invited to be published in International Journal of Serious Games (IJSG) (https://journal.seriousgamessociety.org/index.php/IJSG)
Important Dates
Abstract submission [Optional]: 15.03.2025 (400 words).
Submission Deadline: 15.04.2025 -> extended to: 01.05.2025
Notification of Acceptance: 15.05.25 (Full Papers) / 15.06.25 (Short Papers)
Event Date: 08 – 12 September 2025
Event Location: Siena (Italy), San Niccolò Palace, Via Roma 56.
Organising Committee
Chiara Eva Catalano, CNR IMATI (Italy)
Kevin Körner, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Francesco Bellotti, Università degli Studi di Genova (Italy)
Programme Committee
Vanessa Balint, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Rafael Bidarra, TU Delft (The Netherlands)
Heiko Brendel, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Antonio Bucchiarone, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila (Italy)
Bruno de Andrade, Federal University of Bahia (Brazil)
Luca Forneris, University of Genova (Italy)
Manuel Gentile, CNR ITD (Italy)
Sebastian Hageneuer, University of Cologne (Germany)
Alexander Heising, University of Freiburg (Germany)
Stefan Krmnicek, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Ricardo Marroquim, TU Delft (The Netherlands)
Michela Mortara, CNR IMATI (Italy)
Severin Opel, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Alessandro Pighetti, University of Genova (Italy)
Alessandro Rizzi, University of Milan (Italy)
Yannick Rochat, University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Lilia Segundo, Hasselt University (Belgium)
Avo Schönbohm, HWR Berlin (Germany)
Yoones A. Sekhavat, Tabriz Islamic Arts University (Iran)
Vanissa Wanick, University of Southampton (UK)
Luke West, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Contact Information
For inquiries, please contact the Special Session Program Chairs:
Chiara Eva Catalano | chiaraeva.catalano@ cnr.it
Kevin Körner | kevin.koerner@uni-tuebingen.de
Website: https://digitalheritage2025.unisi.it/