Most cited papers in Educational Games and Gamification
What are the most cited papers in Educational Games and Gamification?
The most cited paper in Educational Games and Gamification is "Mastering the game of Go with deep neural networks and tree search" (David Lawrence Silver, Aja Huang, Chris J. Maddison et al., 2016), with 16,121 citations. Next come "Mastering the game of Go without human knowledge" (9,370) and "The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance." (9,052).
Showing 50 of 99 papers. Every paper with more than 750 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mastering the game of Go with deep neural networks and tree search David Lawrence Silver, Aja Huang, Chris J. Maddison et al. · Nature | 26 Jan 2016 | 16,121 |
| 2 | Mastering the game of Go without human knowledge David Lawrence Silver, Julian Schrittwieser, Karen Simonyan et al. · Nature | Oct 2017 | 9,370 |
| 3 | The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf T. Krampe, Clemens Tesch‐Römer · Psychological Review | Jul 1993 | 9,052 |
| 4 | From game design elements to gamefulness Sebastian Deterding, Dan Dixon, Rilla Khaled et al. | 28 Sep 2011 | 8,256 |
| 5 | What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy James Paul Gee · Education + Training | May 2004 | 6,681 |
| 6 | Does Gamification Work? -- A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification Juho Hamari, Jonna Koivisto, Harri Sarsa | 2014 | 5,081 |
| 7 | Games, Motivation, and Learning: A Research and Practice Model Rosemary Garris, Robert H. Ahlers, James E. Driskell · Simulation & Gaming | Dec 2002 | 3,217 |
| 8 | Experiential Learning Helen LaVan, Cameron Carley · Simulation & Games | Jun 1984 | 3,167 |
| 9 | A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games Thomas M Connolly, Elizabeth A. Boyle, Ewan MacArthur et al. · Computers & Education | 23 Mar 2012 | 2,881 |
| 10 | Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking Marvin Zuckerman | Jun 1994 | 2,688 |
| 11 | Gamification in theory and action: A survey Katie Seaborn, Deborah I. Fels · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies | 5 Oct 2014 | 2,499 |
| 12 | Computational Thinking in K–12 Shuchi Grover, Roy D. Pea · Educational Researcher | 2013 | 2,496 |
| 13 | Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts Sebastian Deterding, Miguel Sicart, Lennart E. Nacke et al. | 7 May 2011 | 2,397 |
| 14 | Expert and Novice Performance in Solving Physics Problems Jill Larkin, John McDermott, Dorothea P. Simon et al. · Science | 20 Jun 1980 | 2,127 |
| 15 | GameFlow Penelope Sweetser, Peta A. Wyeth · Computers in entertainment | Jul 2005 | 2,110 |
| 16 | Training strategies for attaining transfer of problem-solving skill in statistics: A cognitive-load approach. FRED G. W. C. PAAS · Journal of Educational Psychology | Dec 1992 | 2,064 |
| 17 | How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction Michael F. Sailer, Jan Ulrich Hense, Sarah Katharina Mayr et al. · Computers in Human Behavior | 23 Dec 2016 | 2,037 |
| 18 | Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games Charlene I. Jennett, Anna L. Cox, Paul A. Cairns et al. · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies | 8 May 2008 | 2,018 |
| 19 | Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications and outcomes Adrián Domínguez‐Díaz, Joseba Saenz-de-Navarrete, Luis de‐Marcos et al. · Computers & Education | 11 Jan 2013 | 2,017 |
| 20 | Adaptive Hypermedia Peter L. Brusilovsky · User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction | Mar 2001 | 2,001 |
| 21 | Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance Michael D. Hanus, Jesse Fox · Computers & Education | 15 Sep 2014 | 1,910 |
| 22 | A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games. Pieter Jozef Wouters, Christof van Nimwegen, Herre van Oostendorp et al. · Journal of Educational Psychology | 4 Feb 2013 | 1,844 |
| 23 | Effectiveness of virtual reality-based instruction on students' learning outcomes in K-12 and higher education: A meta-analysis Zahira Merchant, Ernest T. Goetz, Lauren Cıfuentes et al. · Computers & Education | 6 Aug 2013 | 1,817 |
| 24 | The rise of motivational information systems: A review of gamification research Jonna Koivisto, Juho Hamari · International Journal of Information Management | 10 Dec 2018 | 1,735 |
| 25 | Challenging games help students learn: An empirical study on engagement, flow and immersion in game-based learning Juho Hamari, David J. Shernoff, Elizabeth Ashman Rowe et al. · Computers in Human Behavior | 15 Aug 2015 | 1,703 |
| 26 | Digital Game-Based Learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation Marina Papastergiou · Computers & Education | 28 Jul 2008 | 1,690 |
| 27 | Foundations of Game-Based Learning Jan L. Plass, Bruce D. Homer, Charles K. Kinzer · Educational Psychologist | 2 Oct 2015 | 1,688 |
| 28 | Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning John Sweller · Cognitive Science | Jun 1988 | 1,687 |
| 29 | Bringing computational thinking to K-12 Valerie Barr, Chris G. Stephenson · ACM Inroads | 25 Feb 2011 | 1,682 |
| 30 | Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning Chris Dede · Science | 2009 | 1,663 |
| 31 | Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Diana I. Córdova, Mark R. Lepper · Journal of Educational Psychology | Dec 1996 | 1,532 |
| 32 | Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology Robert S. Weinberg, Daniel R. Gould | 1995 | 1,483 |
| 33 | Adding immersive virtual reality to a science lab simulation causes more presence but less learning Guido Makransky, Thomas S. Terkildsen, Richard E. Mayer · Learning and Instruction | 26 Dec 2017 | 1,476 |
| 34 | Affordances and Limitations of Immersive Participatory Augmented Reality Simulations for Teaching and Learning Matt Dunleavy, Chris Dede, Rebecca Mitchell · Journal of Science Education and Technology | 2 Sep 2008 | 1,461 |
| 35 | Digital game-based learning: Towards an experiential gaming model Kristian Juha Mikael Kiili · The Internet and Higher Education | 2005 | 1,449 |
| 36 | Demystifying computational thinking Valerie J. Shute, Chen Sun, Jodi Asbell‐Clarke · Educational Research Review | 21 Sep 2017 | 1,439 |
| 37 | Gamifying education: what is known, what is believed and what remains uncertain: a critical review Christo Dichev, Darina Dicheva · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education | 20 Feb 2017 | 1,439 |
| 38 | The Gamification of Learning: a Meta-analysis Michael F. Sailer, Lisa Homner · Educational Psychology Review | 15 Aug 2019 | 1,432 |
| 39 | The Scratch Programming Language and Environment John H. Maloney, Mitchel Resnick, Natalie Rusk et al. · ACM Transactions on Computing Education | Nov 2010 | 1,412 |
| 40 | A LITERATURE REVIEW ON IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY IN EDUCATION: STATE OF THE ART AND PERSPECTIVES. Laura Freina, Michela Ott · eLearning and Software for Education | 23 Apr 2015 | 1,408 |
| 41 | The Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL): a Theoretical Research-Based Model of Learning in Immersive Virtual Reality Guido Makransky, Gustav Bøg Petersen · Educational Psychology Review | 6 Jan 2021 | 1,365 |
| 42 | Review on teaching and learning of computational thinking through programming: What is next for K-12? Sze Yee Lye, Joyce Hwee Ling Koh · Computers in Human Behavior | 30 Sep 2014 | 1,325 |
| 43 | Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature Daniel Johnson, Sebastian Deterding, Kerri-Ann Kuhn et al. · Internet Interventions | Nov 2016 | 1,304 |
| 44 | Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory. David J. Shernoff, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Barbara Shneider et al. · School Psychology Quarterly | 2003 | 1,239 |
| 45 | Digital Games, Design, and Learning Douglas B. Clark, Emily E. Tanner‐Smith, Stephen S. Killingsworth · Review of Educational Research | 16 Apr 2015 | 1,239 |
| 46 | Digital Game-Based Learning: It's Not Just the Digital Natives Who Are Restless. Richard N. Van Eck · UND Scholarly Commons (University of North Dakota) | 2006 | 1,181 |
| 47 | Designing games with a purpose Luis von Ahn, Laura Dabbish · Communications of the ACM | 29 Jul 2008 | 1,169 |
| 48 | Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition Jing Feng, Ian Spence, Jay Pratt · Psychological Science | 24 Sep 2007 | 1,162 |
| 49 | A grounded investigation of game immersion Emily Brown, Paul A. Cairns | 24 Apr 2004 | 1,153 |
| 50 | An update to the systematic literature review of empirical evidence of the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games Elizabeth A. Boyle, Thomas Hainey, Thomas M Connolly et al. · Computers & Education | 10 Nov 2015 | 1,138 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.